STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS OF MOUSE GLYCINE RECEPTOR ALPHA-SUBUNIT GENES - IDENTIFICATION AND CHROMOSOMAL LOCALIZATION OF A NOVEL VARIANT, ALPHA(4)

The inhibitory glycine receptor is a ligand-gated ion channel protein that occurs in different developmentally regulated-isoforms in the mam malian central nervous system. Here, we have analyzed genomic clones c overing the coding regions of the murine glycine receptor alpha1 and a lpha2 subunit genes. Both genes contain eight intronic regions with pr ecisely conserved boundaries. The same structure was also found for se ven exons of a third homologous gene, alpha4, identified during screen ing. The predicted alpha4 polypeptide displays very high homology to t he alpha2 subunit. Like the alpha2 gene, the alpha4 gene maps to the m ouse X chromosome. Our data indicate that the genomic organization of glycine receptor alpha subunit genes is conserved during evolution.