GABA(A) receptor epsilon and theta subunits display unusual structural variation between species and are enriched in the rat locus ceruleus.

ABSTRACT: Previously, GABA(A) receptor epsilon and theta subunits have been identified only in human. Here, we describe properties of the epsilon and theta subunit genes from mouse and rat that reveal an unusually high level of divergence from their human homologs. In addition to a low level of amino acid sequence conservation ( approximately 70%), the rodent epsilon subunit cDNAs encode a unique Pro/Glx motif of approximately 400 residues within the N-terminal extracellular domain of the subunits. Transcripts of the rat epsilon subunit were detected in brain and heart, whereas the mouse theta subunit mRNA was detectable in brain, lung, and spleen by Northern blot analysis. In situ hybridization revealed a particularly strong signal for both subunit mRNAs in rat locus ceruleus in which expression wa

SUBMITTER: Sinkkonen ST 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6772669 | biostudies-literature | 2000 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature