Acta pharmacologica Sinica
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Jun 2009
Ric-3 chaperone-mediated stable cell-surface expression of the neuronal alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in mammalian cells.
Studies of the alpha7-type neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR), one of the receptor forms involved in many physiologically relevant processes in the central nervous system, have been hampered by the inability of this homomeric protein to assemble in most heterologous expression systems. In a recent study, it was shown that the chaperone Ric-3 is necessary for the maturation and functional expression of alpha7-type AChRs(1). The current work aims at obtaining and characterizing a cell line with high functional expression of the human alpha7 AChR. ⋯ The production of a stable and functional cell line of neuroepithelial lineage with robust cell-surface expression of neuronal alpha7-type AChR, as reported here, constitutes an important advance in the study of homomeric receptors in mammalian cells.
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Acta Pharmacol. Sin. · Jun 2009
Rat neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors containing alpha7 subunit: pharmacological properties of ligand binding and function.
To compare pharmacological properties of heterologously expressed homomeric alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (alpha7 nAChRs) with those of native nAChRs containing alpha7 subunit (alpha7* nAChRs) in rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex. ⋯ This newly established stable cell line should be very useful for studying the properties of homomeric alpha7 nAChRs and comparing these properties to native alpha7* nAChRs.