title: Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of Drosophila melanogaster: the alpha-subunit dalpha3 and the beta-type subunit ARD co-assemble within the same receptor complex.
abstract: Dalpha3 is a functional alpha-subunit of Drosophila melanogaster nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Here, we produced Dalpha3-specific antibodies to study which other nAChR subunits can co-assemble with Dalpha3 in receptor complexes of the Drosophila nervous system. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that Dalpha3 is co-distributed with the beta-subunit ARD in synaptic neuropil regions of the optic lobe. Both subunits can be co-purified by alpha-bungarotoxin affinity chromatography. Dalpha3 antibodies co-immunoprecipitate Dalpha3 and ARD proteins and, vice versa, anti-ARD antibodies co-precipitate ARD and Dalpha3. These data demonstrate that one type of fly nAChRs includes these two subunits as integral components.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Department of Neurochemistry and Molecular Biology, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chamaon
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Smalla
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Seidel
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Gundelfinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic