PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - A. Jones
AU  - E. R. Korpi
AU  - R. M. McKernan
AU  - R. Pelz
AU  - Z. Nusser
AU  - R. Mäkelä
AU  - J. R. Mellor
AU  - S. Pollard
AU  - S. Bahn
AU  - F. A. Stephenson
AU  - A. D. Randall
AU  - W. Sieghart
AU  - P. Somogyi
AU  - A. J. H. Smith
AU  - W. Wisden
TI  - Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Subunit Partnerships: GABA<sub>A</sub>Receptor α<sub>6</sub> Subunit Gene Inactivation Inhibits δ Subunit Expression
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-04-01350.1997
DP  - 1997 Feb 15
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 1350--1362
VI  - 17
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/4/1350.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/17/4/1350.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1997 Feb 15; 17
AB  - Cerebellar granule cells express six GABAA receptor subunits abundantly (α1, α6, β2, β3, γ2, and δ) and assemble various pentameric receptor subtypes with unknown subunit compositions; however, the rules guiding receptor subunit assembly are unclear. Here, removal of intact α6 protein from cerebellar granule cells allowed perturbations in other subunit levels to be studied. Exon 8 of the mouse α6 subunit gene was disrupted by homologous recombination. In α6 −/− granule cells, the δ subunit was selectively degraded as seen by immunoprecipitation, immunocytochemistry, and immunoblot analysis with δ subunit-specific antibodies. The δ subunit mRNA was present at wild-type levels in the mutant granule cells, indicating a post-translational loss of the δ subunit. These results provide genetic evidence for a specific association between the α6 and δ subunits. Because in α6 −/− neurons the remaining α1, β2/3, and γ2 subunits cannot rescue the δ subunit, certain potential subunit combinations may not be found in wild-type cells.