@article{fa180a1ae9e4464a8e2a9a62f0959a87,
title = "Functional characterization of mongoose nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α-subunit: Resistance to α-bungarotoxin and high sensitivity to acetylcholine",
abstract = "The mongoose is resistant to snake neurotoxins. The mongoose muscle nicotine acetylcholine receptor (AChR) α-subunit contains a number of mutations in the ligand-binding domain and exhibits poor binding of α-bungarotoxin (α-BTX). We characterized the functional properties of a hybrid (α-mongoose/βγδ-rat) AChR. Hybrid AChRs, expressed in Xenopus oocytes, respond to acetylcholine with depolarizing current, the mean maximal amplitude of which was greater than that mediated by the rat AChR. The IC50 of α-BTX to the hybrid AChR was 200-fold greater than that of the rat, suggesting much lower affinity for the toxin. Hybrid AChRs exhibited an apparent higher rate of desensitization and higher affinity for ACh (EC50 1.3 vs. 23.3 μM for the rat AChR). Hence, changes in the ligand-binding domain of AChR not only affect the binding properties of the receptor, but also result in marked changes in the characteristics of the current.",
keywords = "Acetylcholine, Acetylcholine receptor, Mongoose, Xenopus oocyte, α-Bungarotoxin",
author = "Orna Asher and Monica Lupu-Meiri and Jensen, {Bo S.} and Tamar Paperna and Sara Fuchs and Yoram Oron",
note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by grants from the Israel Science Foundation founded by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the Association Fran{\c c}aise Contre les Miopathies (AFM), the Betty and Norman F. Levy Foundation, the Crown Endowment Fund for Immunology Research, and the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Center for Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science to S.F., the Novo-Nordisk Foundation and the Danish National Science Research Council to B.S.J. and the Binational Science Foundation (BSF) to Y.O.",
year = "1998",
month = jul,
day = "24",
doi = "10.1016/S0014-5793(98)00805-9",
language = "אנגלית",
volume = "431",
pages = "411--414",
journal = "FEBS Letters",
issn = "0014-5793",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "3",
}