Cloning of rat and mouse P2Y purinoceptors

The cellular responses to ATP are mediated by specific high-affinity receptors designated as P2 purinoceptors, five subclasses of which have been defined pharmacologically-P2X, P2Y, P2U, P2T, and P2Z. A cDNA clone encoding a rat P2Y purinoceptor was isolated from an insulinoma cDNA library. The 373-amino acid rat P2Y purinoceptor sequence has 85.7% and 37.8% identity with chicken P2Y and rat P2U purinoceptors, respectively. The sequence of the mouse P2Y purinoceptor was also determined and there was 97.1% amino acid identity with the corresponding rat sequence. RNA blotting studies showed that rat P2Y purinoceptor mRNA was expressed at variable levels in many tissues including heart, brain, spleen, lung, liver, skeletal muscle and kidney, although it was not detected in testis. The cloned rat P2Y purinoceptor was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and possessed the properties expected for this receptor subtype.