title: Antisera against an acetylcholine receptor alpha 3 fusion protein bind to ganglionic but not to brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
abstract: Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) subtypes have been defined pharmacologically, immunologically, and by DNA cloning, but the correlations between these approaches are incomplete. Vertebrate neuronal AChRs that have been isolated are composed of structural subunits and ACh-binding subunits. A single kind of subunit can be used in more than one AChR subtype. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) 35 binds to structural subunits of subtypes of AChRs from both chicken brain and ganglia. By using antisera to a unique sequence of alpha 3 ACh-binding subunits expressed in bacteria, we show that ganglionic AChRs contain alpha 3 ACh-binding subunits, whereas the brain AChR subtype that binds mAb 35 does not. Subunit-specific antisera raised against recombinant proteins should be a valuable approach for identifying the subunit composition of receptors in multigene, multisubunit families.
authors.affiliation: Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA 92138.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schoepfer
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Halvorsen
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Conroy
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Whiting
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lindstrom
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002038:Bungarotoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens; D005724:Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D005796:Genes; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000276:immunology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014101:Torpedo
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002038:Bungarotoxins; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins