Neuron
Volume 1, Issue 1, March 1988, Pages 45-54
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Primary structure and expression of β2: A novel subunit of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

https://doi.org/10.1016/0896-6273(88)90208-5Get rights and content

Abstract

A new subunit, β2, of the neuronal nicotinic receptor family has been identified. This subunit has the structural features of a non-agonist-binding subunit. We provide evidence that β2 can substitute for the muscle β1 subunit to form a functional nicotinic receptor in Xenopus oocytes. Expression studies performed in oocytes have demonstrated that three different neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors can be formed by the pairwise injection of β2 mRNA and each of the neuronal α subunit mRNAs. The β2 gene is expressed in PC12 cells and in areas of the central nervous system where the α2, α3, and α4 genes are expressed. These results lead us to propose that the nervous system expresses diverse forms of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by combining β2 subunits with different agonist-binding α subunits.

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