title: Structure of three high voltage-activated calcium channel alpha1 subunits from Schistosoma mansoni.
abstract: Voltage-gated calcium (Ca2+) channels contribute to impulse propagation in excitable cells and also regulate intracellular levels of Ca2+. High voltage-activated (HVA) Ca2+ channels are heteromultimeric membrane proteins. The pore-forming, voltage-sensing subunit is the alpha1 subunit. We have cloned 3 HVA Ca2+ channel alpha1 subunit cDNAs from Schistosoma mansoni. One of these sequences most closely resembles the L-type class of HVA alpha1 subunits. The other two sequences are most closely related to non L-type alpha1 subunits. These schistosome alpha1 subunits have many of the features common to HVA Ca2+ channels, but also have distinct structural motifs. Analysis of the structural and functional properties of schistosome Ca2+ channel subunits may provide information about these critical components of excitable cells.
authors.affiliation: Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida, St Augustine 32080, USA.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kohn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lea
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Roberts-Misterly
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D018510:RNA, Helminth / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000097:blood; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D018510:RNA, Helminth