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XB-ART-11324
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2000 Mar 28;977:3562-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.97.7.3562.
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GABArho 1/GABAAalpha 1 receptor chimeras to study receptor desensitization.

Martínez-Torres A , Demuro A , Miledi R .


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gamma-Aminobutyrate type C (GABA(C)) receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that are expressed preponderantly in the vertebrate retina and are characterized, among other things, by a very low rate of desensitization and resistance to the specific GABA(A) antagonist bicuculline. To examine which structural elements determine the nondesensitizing character of the human homomeric rho1 receptor, we used a combination of gene chimeras and electrophysiology of receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Two chimeric genes were constructed, made up of portions of the rho1-subunit and of the alpha1-subunit of the GABA(A) receptor. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, one chimeric gene (rho1/alpha1) formed functional homooligomeric receptors that were fully resistant to bicuculline and were blocked by the specific GABA(C) antagonist (1,2,5, 6-tetrahydropyridine-4-yl)methylphosphinic acid and by zinc. Moreover, these chimeric receptors had a fast-desensitizing component, even faster than that of heterooligomeric GABA(A) receptors, in striking contrast to the almost nil desensitization of wild-type rho1 (wt rho1) receptors. To see whether the fast-desensitizing characteristic of the chimera was determined by the amino acids forming the ion channels, we replaced the second transmembrane segment (TM2) of rho1 by that of the alpha1-subunit of GABA(A). Although the alpha1-subunit forms fast-desensitizing receptors when coexpressed with other GABA(A) subunits, the sole transfer of the alpha1TM2 segment to rho1 was not sufficient to form desensitizing receptors. All this suggests that the slow-desensitizing trait of rho1 receptors is determined by a combination of several interacting domains along the molecule.

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Species referenced: Xenopus laevis

References [+] :
Birnir, Nature of the 5' residue in the M2 domain affects function of the human alpha 1 beta 1 GABAA receptor. 1997, Pubmed