title: Functional analysis of a voltage-gated sodium channel and its splice variant from rat dorsal root ganglia.
abstract: Neurons of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) express a diversity of voltage-gated sodium channels. From rat DRG we have cloned and functionally expressed a tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium channel alpha subunit, NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4, and a splice variant, rPN4a. Primary structure analysis shows NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4 to be highly homologous (99%) to NaCh6 and most likely represents the same transcript. The splice variation in rPN4a is homologous in sequence and location to that of rat brain I. Tissue distribution analyzed by RT-PCR showed NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4 to be expressed at its highest levels in rat brain, at moderate levels in spinal cord, and at lower levels in DRG, nodose ganglia, and superior cervical ganglia and to be absent from sciatic nerve, heart, and skeletal muscle. In contrast, rPN4a shows no expression in brain and low-level expression in spinal cord, whereas in DRG its expression is comparable to that of NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4. Functional analysis of these channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes showed that NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4 and rPN4a exhibited similar properties, with V(1/2) approximately -100 mV for steady-state inactivation and V(1/2) approximately -40 mV for activation. rPN4a recovered from inactivation significantly faster than NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4. NaCh6/Scn8a/rPN4 was inhibited by tetrodotoxin with an IC50 approximately 1 nM. Coexpression of the beta1 subunit accelerated inactivation kinetics, but the beta2 subunit was without effect.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biological Research, Neurobiology Unit, Roche Bioscience, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Dietrich
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: McGivern
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Eglen
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sangameswaran
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000378:metabolism*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009865:Oocytes; D009928:Organ Specificity; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D015222:Sodium Channels