Alternative splicing contributes to K+ channel diversity in the mammalian central nervous system.
Year: 1991
Type: article
Abstract: In an attempt to define the molecular basis of the functional diversity of K+ channels, we have isolated overlapping rat brain cDNAs that encoded a neuronal delayed rectifier K+ channel, K,4, that is structurally related to the Drosophila Shaw protein. Unlike previously characterized mammalian K+ channel genes, which each contain a single protein-coding exon, K,4 arises from alternative exon usage at a locus that also encodes another mammalian Shaw homolog, NGK2. Thus, the enormous diversity of K+ channels in mammals can be generated not just through gene duplication and divergence but also through alternative splicing of RNA.
Authors: C J Luneau, J B Williams, J Marshall, E S Levitan, C Oliva, J S Smith, J Antanavage, K Folander, R B Stein, R Swanson
Institution: Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States)
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2101566513