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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-4-25
pubmed:abstractText
Hair cells of the vertebrate inner ear are subject to efferent control by the release of acetylcholine (ACh) from brainstem neurons. While ACh ultimately causes the hair cell to hyperpolarize through the activation of small conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels, the initial effect is to open a ligand-gated cation channel that briefly depolarizes the hair cell. The hair cell's ligand-gated cation channel has unusual pharmacology that is well matched to that of the nicotinic subunit alpha9 expressed in Xenopus oocytes. We used sequence-specific amplification to identify the ortholog of alpha9 in the chick's cochlea (basilar papilla). Chick alpha9 is 73% identical to rat alpha9 at the amino acid level. A second transcript was identified that differed by the loss of 132 base pairs coding for 44 amino acids near the putative ligand-binding site. RT-PCR on whole cochlear ducts suggested that this short variant is less abundant than the full length alpha9 mRNA. In situ hybridization revealed alpha9 mRNA in sensory hair cells of the chick cochlea. The pattern of expression was consistent with the efferent innervation pattern. The alpha9 label was strongest in short (outer) hair cells on which large calyciform efferent endings are found. Tall (inner) hair cells receiving little or no efferent innervation had substantially less label. The cochlear ganglion neurons were not labeled, consistent with the absence of axo-dendritic efferent innervation in birds. These findings suggest that alpha9 contributes to the ACh receptor of avian hair cells and supports the generality of this hypothesis among all vertebrates.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Mar
pubmed:issn
0006-8993
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
6
pubmed:volume
858
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
215-25
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Alternative Splicing, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Base Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Chickens, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Cloning, Molecular, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Cochlea, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Guinea Pigs, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Hair Cells, Auditory, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-In Situ Hybridization, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Molecular Sequence Data, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Neurons, Efferent, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Organ Specificity, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-RNA, Messenger, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Rats, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Receptors, Nicotinic, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Sequence Alignment, pubmed-meshheading:10700617-Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Cloning and expression of the alpha9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit in cochlear hair cells of the chick.
pubmed:affiliation
Center for Hearing Science, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.