title: Techniques: Use of concatenated subunits for the study of ligand-gated ion channels.
abstract: Members of the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel family, comprising GABA(A) receptors, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, glycine receptors and 5-HT3 receptors, are involved in information transfer at both synapses and the neuromuscular junction. However, receptors that are composed of five subunits are difficult to analyse by recombinant expression of a mixture of the single subunits because multiple receptor subtypes with different subunit composition or arrangement can be formed. Covalently linking the C-terminus of the preceding subunit with the N-terminus of the following subunit to form a concatenated subunit enables the precise predetermination of subunit arrangement in these receptors. A forced subunit assembly enables the characterization of: (i) receptor architecture; (ii) properties of receptors that contain different subunit isoforms in specific locations; and (iii) selective introduction of a mutation into a specific subunit that occurs multiple times in a receptor. Thus, this method also facilitates the investigation of positional effects of mutations associated with diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Bern, Friedbühlstr. 49, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Minier
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sigel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044708:DNA, Concatenated / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008024:Ligands; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D044708:DNA, Concatenated; D007473:Ion Channels; D008024:Ligands; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A