title: Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits expressed in rat cochlea detected by the polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Poly(A)+ RNA was extracted from rat cochleae using guanidinium thiocyanate and oligo(dT)-cellulose, and converted into cDNA by reverse transcriptase using an oligo(dT) primer. Oligonucleotides complementary to conserved 5' and 3' regions of alpha and beta subunits of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (nAChR) family were then used as primers to screen the cochlear cDNA via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure. PCR products of approximately 900 bp length, purified by agarose gel electrophoresis, were nick translated to produce [32P]-dCTP labelled probes for Southern Blot screening of nAChR cDNAs. Of the four alpha and three beta subunits screened, only alpha 5 and beta 4 nAChR cDNAs hybridized. The alpha 5 PCR product was cloned and sequenced and proved to be identical to published sequence for alpha 5. The detection of alpha 5 and beta 4 nAChR subunit expression in cochlear tissue supports previous electrophysiological and immunocytochemical evidence for nAChR-mediated centrifugal control of hearing function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Housley
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Batcher
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003051:Cochlea / Q000378:metabolism*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D006146:Guanidines / Q000737:chemistry; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D011061:Poly A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051381:Rats; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006146:Guanidines; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D013861:Thiocyanates; C027903:oligo (dT); D011061:Poly A; C054436:guanidine thiocyanate; D012313:RNA