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Structural homology of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor subunits

Nature volume 302, pages 528–532 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) from the electroplax of the ray Torpedo californica is composed of five subunits present in a molar stoichiometry of α2βγδ (refs 1–3) and contains both the binding site for the neurotransmitter and the cation gating unit (reviewed in refs 4–6). We have recently elucidated the complete primary structures of the α-, β- and δ-subunit precursors of the T. californica AChR by cloning and sequencing cDNAs for these polypeptides7,8. Here, we report the whole primary structure of the γ-subunit precursor of the AChR deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the cloned cDNA. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of the four subunits reveals marked homology among them. The close resemblance among the hydrophilicity profiles and predicted secondary structures of all the subunits suggests that these polypeptides are oriented in a pseudosymmetric fashion across the membrane. Each subunit contains four putative transmembrane segments that may be involved in the ionic channel. The transmembrane topology of the subunit molecules has also been inferred.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Chemistry, Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto, 606, Japan

    Masaharu Noda, Hideo Takahashi, Tsutomu Tanabe, Mitsuyoshi Toyosato, Sho Kikyotani, Yasuji Furutani & Shosaku Numa

  2. Pharmaceutical Institute, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 160, Japan

    Tadaaki Hirose, Hideaki Takashima & Seiichi Inayama

  3. Department of Biology, Kyushu University Faculty of Science, Fukuoka, 812, Japan

    Takashi Miyata

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  1. Masaharu Noda
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Noda, M., Takahashi, H., Tanabe, T. et al. Structural homology of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor subunits. Nature 302, 528–532 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302528a0

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