Skip to main content

Some NLM-NCBI services and products are experiencing heavy traffic, which may affect performance and availability. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. For assistance, please contact our Help Desk at info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1984 Dec;81(24):7975–7979. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.24.7975

Structure linkage, and sequence of the two genes encoding the delta and gamma subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

P Nef, A Mauron, R Stalder, C Alliod, M Ballivet
PMCID: PMC392276  PMID: 6096871

Abstract

We have cloned and sequenced a fragment of the chicken genome approximately 9 kilobases in length that comprises the genes encoding the delta and gamma subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The two genes are homologous and have identical structures: both consist of 12 exons, some of which precisely correspond to predicted structural domains of the receptor subunits. The delta and gamma subunit genes are encoded by the same DNA strand and are very closely linked, there being only 740 base pairs between the last codon of delta and the initiator codon of gamma. Blot analysis demonstrates that the genes we describe are unique in the genome. Comparison of the predicted protein sequence for the corresponding subunits of chicken and of the elasmobranch Torpedo reveals a high degree of conservation in some but not all of the protein domains.

Full text

PDF
7975

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ballivet M., Nef P., Stalder R., Fulpius B. Genomic sequences encoding the alpha-subunit of acetylcholine receptor are conserved in evolution. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1983;48(Pt 1):83–87. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1983.048.01.011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ballivet M., Patrick J., Lee J., Heinemann S. Molecular cloning of cDNA coding for the gamma subunit of Torpedo acetylcholine receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Jul;79(14):4466–4470. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.14.4466. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Benton W. D., Davis R. W. Screening lambdagt recombinant clones by hybridization to single plaques in situ. Science. 1977 Apr 8;196(4286):180–182. doi: 10.1126/science.322279. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Blin N., Stafford D. W. A general method for isolation of high molecular weight DNA from eukaryotes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1976 Sep;3(9):2303–2308. doi: 10.1093/nar/3.9.2303. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Changeux J. P. The acetylcholine receptor: an "allosteric" membrane protein. Harvey Lect. 1979 1980;75:85–254. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Claudio T., Ballivet M., Patrick J., Heinemann S. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor gamma subunit. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Feb;80(4):1111–1115. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.4.1111. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Conti-Tronconi B. M., Raftery M. A. The nicotinic cholinergic receptor: correlation of molecular structure with functional properties. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:491–530. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.002423. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Devillers-Thiery A., Giraudat J., Bentaboulet M., Changeux J. P. Complete mRNA coding sequence of the acetylcholine binding alpha-subunit of Torpedo marmorata acetylcholine receptor: a model for the transmembrane organization of the polypeptide chain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Apr;80(7):2067–2071. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.7.2067. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Finer-Moore J., Stroud R. M. Amphipathic analysis and possible formation of the ion channel in an acetylcholine receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jan;81(1):155–159. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.1.155. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Garnier J., Osguthorpe D. J., Robson B. Analysis of the accuracy and implications of simple methods for predicting the secondary structure of globular proteins. J Mol Biol. 1978 Mar 25;120(1):97–120. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(78)90297-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hershey N. D., Noonan D. J., Mixter K. S., Claudio T., Davidson N. Structure and expression of genomic clones coding for the delta-subunit of the Torpedo acetylcholine receptor. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1983;48(Pt 1):79–82. doi: 10.1101/sqb.1983.048.01.010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Klarsfeld A., Devillers-Thiéry A., Giraudat J., Changeux J. P. A single gene codes for the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha-subunit in Torpedo marmorata: structural and developmental implications. EMBO J. 1984 Jan;3(1):35–41. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb01758.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kozak M. Possible role of flanking nucleotides in recognition of the AUG initiator codon by eukaryotic ribosomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Oct 24;9(20):5233–5252. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.20.5233. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lerner M. R., Boyle J. A., Mount S. M., Wolin S. L., Steitz J. A. Are snRNPs involved in splicing? Nature. 1980 Jan 10;283(5743):220–224. doi: 10.1038/283220a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Loenen W. A., Brammar W. J. A bacteriophage lambda vector for cloning large DNA fragments made with several restriction enzymes. Gene. 1980 Aug;10(3):249–259. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90054-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. A new method for sequencing DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Feb;74(2):560–564. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.2.560. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Mishina M., Kurosaki T., Tobimatsu T., Morimoto Y., Noda M., Yamamoto T., Terao M., Lindstrom J., Takahashi T., Kuno M. Expression of functional acetylcholine receptor from cloned cDNAs. Nature. 1984 Feb 16;307(5952):604–608. doi: 10.1038/307604a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Noda M., Takahashi H., Tanabe T., Toyosato M., Furutani Y., Hirose T., Asai M., Inayama S., Miyata T., Numa S. Primary structure of alpha-subunit precursor of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor deduced from cDNA sequence. Nature. 1982 Oct 28;299(5886):793–797. doi: 10.1038/299793a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Noda M., Takahashi H., Tanabe T., Toyosato M., Kikyotani S., Furutani Y., Hirose T., Takashima H., Inayama S., Miyata T. Structural homology of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor subunits. Nature. 1983 Apr 7;302(5908):528–532. doi: 10.1038/302528a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Noda M., Takahashi H., Tanabe T., Toyosato M., Kikyotani S., Hirose T., Asai M., Takashima H., Inayama S., Miyata T. Primary structures of beta- and delta-subunit precursors of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor deduced from cDNA sequences. Nature. 1983 Jan 20;301(5897):251–255. doi: 10.1038/301251a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Norman R. I., Mehraban F., Barnard E. A., Dolly J. O. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor from chick optic lobe. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Feb;79(4):1321–1325. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.4.1321. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Raftery M. A., Hunkapiller M. W., Strader C. D., Hood L. E. Acetylcholine receptor: complex of homologous subunits. Science. 1980 Jun 27;208(4451):1454–1456. doi: 10.1126/science.7384786. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Rigby P. W., Dieckmann M., Rhodes C., Berg P. Labeling deoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nick translation with DNA polymerase I. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jun 15;113(1):237–251. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90052-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Smith D. R., Calvo J. M. Nucleotide sequence of the E coli gene coding for dihydrofolate reductase. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 May 24;8(10):2255–2274. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.10.2255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Sternberg N., Tiemeier D., Enquist L. In vitro packaging of a lambda Dam vector containing EcoRI DNA fragments of Escherichia coli and phage P1. Gene. 1977 May;1(3-4):255–280. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(77)90049-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Sumikawa K., Houghton M., Smith J. C., Bell L., Richards B. M., Barnard E. A. The molecular cloning and characterisation of cDNA coding for the alpha subunit of the acetylcholine receptor. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Oct 11;10(19):5809–5822. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.19.5809. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Swanson L. W., Lindstrom J., Tzartos S., Schmued L. C., O'Leary D. D., Cowan W. M. Immunohistochemical localization of monoclonal antibodies to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in chick midbrain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jul;80(14):4532–4536. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.14.4532. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Vieira J., Messing J. The pUC plasmids, an M13mp7-derived system for insertion mutagenesis and sequencing with synthetic universal primers. Gene. 1982 Oct;19(3):259–268. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90015-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES