A human-specific, truncated α7 nicotinic receptor subunit assembles with full-length α7 and forms functional receptors with different stoichiometries.

ABSTRACT: The cholinergic α7 nicotinic receptor gene, CHRNA7, encodes a subunit that forms the homopentameric α7 receptor, involved in learning and memory. In humans, exons 5-10 in CHRNA7 are duplicated and fused to the FAM7A genetic element, giving rise to the hybrid gene CHRFAM7A Its product, dupα7, is a truncated subunit lacking part of the N-terminal extracellular ligand-binding domain and is associated with neurological disorders, including schizophrenia, and immunomodulation. We combined dupα7 expression on mammalian cells with patch clamp recordings to understand its functional role. Transfected cells expressed dupα7 protein, but they exhibited neither surface binding of the α7 antagonist α-bungarotoxin nor responses to acetylcholine (ACh) or to an allosteric agoni

SUBMITTER: Lasala M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6036215 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature