Evidence for the existence of RNA of Ca2+-channel α2/δ subunit in Xenopus oocytes

Dafna Singer-Lahat*, Ilana Lotan, Kiyoshi Itagaki, Arnold Schwartz, Nathan Dascal

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Ba2+-currents (IBa) through voltage-dependent Ca2+-channels were studied in Xenopus oocytes injected with RNA from several excitable tissues, using the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique. Previous studies have shown that the expression of cardiac Ca2+-channels can be suppressed by an hybrid-arrest procedure that includes co-injection of the tissue-derived RNA with an 'antisense' oligonucleotide complementary to a part of RNA coding for the Ca2+-channel α1 subunit. In this study, this method was used to investigate the role of the α2/δ subunit. Co-injection of RNA extracted from either rabbit heart, rat brain or rat skeletal muscle (SkM) with 'antisense' oligonucleotides complementary to the α2/δ subunit RNA did not substantially affect the expression of IBa in the oocytes. Using the Northern blot hybridization method, it was shown that native oocytes contain large amounts of α2/δ subunit RNA of Ca2+-channel. It is proposed that te oligonucleotide treatment fails to eliminate the α2/δ RNA because of the vast excess of endogenous α2/δ RNA. These results impose a limit on the use of the hybrid-arrest method.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-44
Number of pages6
JournalBBA - Molecular Cell Research
Volume1137
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Oct 1992

Keywords

  • (X. laevis)
  • Calcium channel
  • Hybrid-arrest method
  • Oocyte
  • RNA

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