Primary Structure of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.
Abstract
Chemical signaling between cells is an important form of biological regulation. We focused our attention on the signaling mechanisms that use acetylcholine, cholinergic receptors, and acetylcholinesterase. Our approach to understanding these mechanisms was to clone DNA sequences that encode the proteins that comprise the acetylcholine receptor molecules and to determine that structure of the receptors from these recombinant DNA clones. In the course of this work, we discovered that there is a family of genes that encode a family of receptor molecules. Through our research, we determined the primary structure of these proteins and showed that they can be expressed in Xenopus oocytes to form functional receptors, that the receptors have different properties, and that the receptors are expressed in different parts of the brain. This unexpected prevalence and diversity of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors changes the way we think about drugs that affect cholinergic signaling. Because these receptors are pharmacologically distinguishable and occur in regions of the brain with different known functions, one must consider the idea that cholinergic drugs exert differential effects in different brain pathways. Keywords: Binding sites, Receptor sites, Biochemistry. (KT)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADB124874
Entities
People
- James W. Patrick
Organizations
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies