RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The buccalin-related neuropeptides: isolation and characterization of an Aplysia cDNA clone encoding a family of peptide cotransmitters
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 3346
OP 3357
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.13-08-03346.1993
VO 13
IS 8
A1 MW Miller
A1 S Beushausen
A1 EC Cropper
A1 K Eisinger
A1 S Stamm
A1 FS Vilim
A1 A Vitek
A1 A Zajc
A1 I Kupfermann
A1 J Brosius
YR 1993
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/13/8/3346.abstract
AB The buccalin-related peptides, buccalin A and buccalin B, are members of a family of cotransmitters that modulate neuromuscular transmission in Aplysia. In this study, a third buccalin-related peptide, buccalin C, was purified from neuronal elements in the accessory radula closer, a muscle involved in the animal's feeding behavior. Oligonucleotide probes based upon the amino acid sequence of buccalin C were used to isolate cDNA clones that encode a buccalin precursor polypeptide. The buccalin precursor contains 19 distinct buccalin-related peptides, several of which are present in multiple copies. The buccalin gene appears to be present in a single copy, with one allele containing a small insert. Expression of this gene occurs in a tissue-specific manner and mRNA transcripts are abundant within neurons in the Aplysia CNS. This large family of neuropeptides may exert extraordinarily complex modulatory actions at synapses where they serve as cotransmitters.