title: Comparative genomics of the human and Fugu voltage-gated calcium channel alpha1-subunit gene family reveals greater diversity in Fugu.
abstract: Extensive search for the orthologs of 10 human voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) alpha(1)-subunit genes in the Fugu genome sequence revealed 21 alpha(1)-subunit genes in the compact genome of Fugu. Subtype classification of the identified Fugu alpha(1) orthologs based on phylogenetic analysis, genomic organization and sequence comparison of the most divergent II/III loop and the C-terminal regions of the alpha(1)-subunits indicated extra copies of alpha(1S)-, alpha(1D)-, alpha(1F)-, alpha(1A)-, alpha(1E)-, alpha(1H)- and alpha(1G)-subunit genes. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that this is likely due to fish lineage specific alpha(1)-subunit subtype duplication. Sequence comparison shows that many of the structural features characteristic of VGCC and specific channel subtypes are also present in the Fugu alpha(1)-subunits. All the Fugu alpha(1)-subunits showed similar expression profile to that of the mammalian alpha(1)-subunits except for Fugu alpha(1S), alpha(1A), alpha(1B) and alpha(1H) which have a more widespread tissue distribution. These results indicate that Fugu, a lower vertebrate, has more extensive channel heterogeneity compared to human.
authors.affiliation: Ion Channel and Transporter Laboratory, National Neuroscience Institute, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, S308433, Singapore.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Wei-Ping
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Wai Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: Byrappa
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Venkatesh
authors.forename: Tuck Wah
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Soong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000235:genetics*; D015894:Genome, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein / Q000379:methods; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D023741:Takifugu / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels