MOLECULAR-CLONING OF A HUMAN NEURONAL NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE-RECEPTOR BETA-3-LIKE SUBUNIT

Three cDNA clones homologous to rat neuronal nicotinic receptors were identified in a human brain stem library by screening at low stringenc y with a mixture of rat alpha5, beta2 and beta4 subunit probes. Positi ve clones were further analysed by hybridisation at higher stringency with individual rat nicotinic receptor probes. One positive clone was found to encode a protein that exhibited characteristic features of a member of the ligand-gated ion channel class of protein subunits, and showed 89% homology with a rat beta3 neuronal nicotinic receptor subun it. Northern blots demonstrated the presence of a 1.7 kb transcript in RNA extracted from adult human Pons. This clone has therefore been de signated the human beta3 neuronal nicotinic receptor subunit.