The cloning and expression of a sodium channel beta 1-subunit cDNA from human brain.
Electrical excitability of neurons and muscle cells is mediated largely through the actions of the voltage-gated sodium channel. Initiation and propagation of the action potential is a direct result of the precisely controlled inward flux of sodium through these channels. Much attention has been paid to the sodium channel alpha-subunit, the major, pore-forming component. However, alpha-subunits are associated with one or more smaller beta-subunits, which have been implicated in the critical fine tuning of the gating properties of the channel. To investigate the properties of the beta-subunit, we have isolated a cDNA encoding the human brain beta 1-subunit and assigned the corresponding gene to chromosome 19. We have also examined the effects of expressing the brain beta 1-subunit on the kinetics of a coexpressed muscle sodium channel alpha-subunit. Our results underscore the functional importance of the beta 1-subunit and imply a conserved mechanism for the interaction of the beta 1-subunit with different alpha-subunits.
Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
A I
AI
McClatchey
S C
SC
Cannon
S A
SA
Slaugenhaupt
J F
JF
Gusella
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D006822:Hybrid Cells; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D009865:Oocytes; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014981:Xenopus
D009124:Muscle Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D015222:Sodium Channels; D004247:DNA