ORGANIZATION OF THE MURINE 5-HT3 RECEPTOR GENE AND ASSIGNMENT TO HUMAN-CHROMOSOME-11

We have isolated the murine gene encoding the 5-HT3 receptor (5-HT(3)R ), a member of the ligand-gated ion channels, that mediates a variety of physiological effects in central and peripheral neurons. DNA sequen ce analysis of the 5-HT(3)R gene revealed its organisation in 9 exons distributed over approximately 12 kbp of DNA. Alternative use of exon 9 splice acceptor sites generated two 5-HT(3)R variants. The 5-HT(3)R gene, whose structure is closely related to neuronal and muscle AChR a lpha genes, as demonstrated by four common splice junctions, was local ised on human chromosome 11.