Abstract
The simple nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, possesses the most extensive known gene family of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR)-like subunits. Whilst all show greatest similarity with nAChR subunits of both invertebrates and vertebrates, phylogenetic analysis suggests that just over half of these (32) may represent other members of the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily. We have introduced a novel nomenclature system for these “Orphan” subunits, designating them as lgc genes (ligand-gated ion channels of the cys-loop superfamily), which can also be applied in future to unnamed and uncharacterised members of the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily. We present here the resulting updated version of the C. elegans nAChR gene family and related ligand-gated ion channel genes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Brown LA, Jones AK, Buckingham SD, Mee CJ, Sattelle DB (2006) Contributions from Caenorhabditis elegans functional genetics to antiparasitic drug target identification and validation: nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, a case study. Int J Parasitol 36:617–624
Dent JA (2006) Evidence for a diverse cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily in early bilateria. J Mol Evol 62:523–535
Green WN, Wanamaker CP (1997) The role of the cystine loop in acetylcholine receptor assembly. J Biol Chem 272:20945–20953
Grutter T, de Carvalho LP, Dufresne V, Taly A, Edelstein SJ, Changeux JP (2005) Molecular tuning of fast gating in pentameric ligand-gated ion channels. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:18207–18212
Jones AK, Sattelle DB (2004) Functional genomics of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Bioessays 26:39–49
Kao PN, Karlin A (1986) Acetylcholine receptor binding site contains a disulfide cross-link between adjacent half-cystinyl residues. J Biol Chem 261:8085–8088
Millar NS (2003) Assembly and subunit diversity of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Biochem Soc Trans 31:869–874
Mongan NP, Baylis HA, Adcock C, Smith GR, Sansom MS, Sattelle DB (1998) An extensive and diverse gene family of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha subunits in Caenorhabditis elegans. Receptors Channels 6:213–228
Mongan NP, Jones AK, Smith GR, Sansom MS, Sattelle DB (2002) Novel alpha7-like nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Protein Sci 11:1162–1171
Patton A, Knuth S, Schaheen B, Dang H, Greenwald I, Fares H (2005) Endocytosis function of a ligand-gated ion channel homolog in Caenorhabditis elegans. Curr Biol 15:1045–1050
Putrenko I, Zakikhani M, Dent JA (2005) A family of acetylcholine-gated chloride channel subunits in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Biol Chem 280:6392–6398
Sine SM, Engel AG (2006) Recent advances in Cys-loop receptor structure and function. Nature 440:448–455
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jones, A.K., Davis, P., Hodgkin, J. et al. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: an update on nomenclature. Invert Neurosci 7, 129–131 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-007-0049-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-007-0049-z