Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Subunit Partnerships: GABAAReceptor α6Subunit Gene Inactivation Inhibits δ Subunit Expression

• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.17-04-01350.1997
• Publication Date: 2018-04-03T15:01:02Z
• Authors: A. Jones; E. R. Korpi; R. M. McKernan; R. Pelz; Z. Nusser; R. Mäkelä; J. R. Mellor; S. Pollard; S. Bahn; F. A. Stephenson; A. D. Randall; W. Sieghart; P. Somogyi; A. J. H. Smith; W. Wisden
• Keywords: Specificity factor; SCN3A; Immunoprecipitation

Cerebellar granule cells express six GABA A receptor subunits abundantly (α 1 , α 6 β 2 3 γ and δ) assemble various pentameric subtypes with unknown subunit compositions; however, the rules guiding assembly are unclear. Here, removal of intact protein from cerebellar allowed perturbations in other levels to be studied. Exon 8 mouse gene was disrupted by homologous recombination. In −/− cells, δ selectively degraded as seen immunoprecipitation, immunocytochemistry, immunoblot analysis subunit-specific antibodies. The mRNA present at wild-type mutant indicating a post-translational loss subunit. These results provide genetic evidence for specific association between subunits. Because neurons remaining 2/3 cannot rescue subunit, certain potential combinations may not found cells.