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Published on: January 11, 2011
Molecular diversity of cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channels
1Institut fuer Pharmakologie und Toxikologie der Technischen Universitaet Muenchen, Muenchen, Germany.
Abstract:
Cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channels (CNG channels) form a multi-gene family consisting of at least five distinct members (CNG1-5). Expression studies have indicated that only CNG1-3 are able to form functional homooligomeric channels. Although structurally related, the cDNAs of CNG4-5 fail to induce cyclic nucleotide-dependent currents when expressed alone. However, when co-expressed with CNG1-3 they confer some of the physiologically observed properties of native CNG channels which are absent from the homooligomeric CNG1-3 channels. CNG channels are expressed in several tissues and cell types pointing to a general function of these channels in a wide variety of cellular systems. There is now increasing evidence that a major function of CNG channels may consist in providing a second messenger-regulated pathway for Ca2+ influx.
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