Molecular cloning of G protein alpha subunits from the central nervous system of the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis.
The central nervous system of the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, contains many large, identified neurons which can be easily manipulated making it an advantageous model system to elucidate in vivo the architecture of neuronal signal transduction pathways. We have isolated three cDNA clones encoding G protein alpha subunits that are expressed in the Lymnaea CNS, i.e. G alpha o, G alpha s and G alpha i. The deduced proteins exhibit a very high degree of sequence identity to their vertebrate and invertebrate counterparts. The strong conservation of G protein alpha subunits suggests that functional insights into G protein-mediated signalling routes obtained through the experimental amenability of the Lymnaea CNS will have relevance for similar pathways in the mammalian brain.
Knol
J C
JC
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Weidemann
W
W
Planta
R J
RJ
Vreugdenhil
E
E
van Heerikhuizen
H
H
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000737:chemistry*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction
D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins