{alpha}4{beta}2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: relationships between subunit stoichiometry and function at the single channel level [Molecular Biophysics]

Acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) comprised of α4 and β2 subunits are the most abundant class of nicotinic AChR in the brain. They contribute to cognition, reward, mood and nociception, and are implicated in a range of neurological disorders. Previous measurements of whole-cell macroscopic currents showed that α4 and β2 subunits assemble in two predominant pentameric stoichiometries, which differ in their sensitivity to agonists, antagonists and allosteric modulators. Here we compare agonist-elicited single channel currents from receptors assembled with an excess of either the α4 or β2 subunit, forming receptor populations biased toward one or the other stoichiometry, with currents from receptors composed of five concatemeric subunits in which the subunit stoichiometry is predetermined. Our results associate each subunit stoichiometry with a unique single channel conductance, mean open channel lifetime and sensitivity to the allosteric potentiator NS-9283. Receptors with the composition (α4β2)2α4 exhibit high single channel conductance, brief mean open lifetime and strong potentiation by NS-9283, whereas receptors with the composition (α4β2)2β2 exhibit low single channel conductance, long mean open lifetime and are not potentiated by NS-9283. Thus single channel current measurements reveal bases for the distinct functional and pharmacological properties endowed by different stoichiometries of α4 and β2 subunits, and establish pentameric concatemers as a means to delineate interactions between subunits that confer these properties

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