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Alternative splicing of the Anopheles gambiae nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, Agamαβ9, generates both alpha and beta subunits

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Invertebrate Neuroscience

Abstract

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the members of the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily and are formed by five subunits arranged around a central ion channel. Each subunit is encoded by a separate gene and is classified as either α or non-α depending on the presence or absence, respectively, of two adjacent cysteine residues which are important for acetylcholine binding. Here, we report for the first time a single nAChR gene encoding both α and non-α subunits. Specifically, alternative splicing of the Anopheles gambiae nAChR subunit, previously called Agamα9 and renamed here Agamαβ9, generates two variants, one possessing the two cysteines (denoted Agamαβ9α) and the other lacking the cysteine doublet (Agamαβ9β). Attempts to heterologously express functional nAChRs consisting of the Agamαβ9 splice variants in Xenopus laevis oocytes were unsuccessful. Our findings further characterise a potential target to control the malaria mosquito as well as provide insights into the diversification of nAChRs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to the Anopheles gambiae Genome Project, which provided the starting point for this study. The authors thank Karen Day and Lynn Pilling for their help in providing mosquitoes.

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Author notes

  1. Laurence A. Brown

    Present address: Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Level 5 and 6 West Wing, The John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Functional Genomics Unit, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QX, UK

    Andrew K. Jones, Steven D. Buckingham & David B. Sattelle

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  1. Andrew K. Jones
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Correspondence to Andrew K. Jones.

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Jones, A.K., Buckingham, S.D., Brown, L.A. et al. Alternative splicing of the Anopheles gambiae nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, Agamαβ9, generates both alpha and beta subunits. Invert Neurosci 9, 77 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-009-0089-7

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