Fig. 1.

Alternatively spliced exons in Cacna1b and patterns of expression. Cacna1b pre-mRNA undergoes extensive alternative splicing generating 10 s to 100 s of unique Ca_V2.2 proteins in neurons. Alternatively spliced exons e18a, e24a, and e31a are cassette exons. E37a and e37b are mutually exclusive exons. Alternatively spliced exons are expressed in different regions of the nervous system, in different types of cells, and at different stages of development. Examples of different expression patterns of splice isoforms are shown for embryonic and adult brain, superior cervical ganglia (SCG), cortex, and nociceptors. The tissue distribution and functional consequences of these exons on Ca_V2.2 channel properties have been described in a series of publications [15,28,85,86,88,119,120].