Structural and functional characterization of insect genes encoding ligand-gated chloride-channel subunits
1995
Knipple, D.C. | Henderson, J.E. | Soderlund, D.M.
Ligand-gated chloride channels mediate synaptic inhibition in animal nervous systems and are sites of action of important drugs and toxins. Recent studies of vertebrate GABA- and glycine-gated chloride channels have revealed their heteromultimeric organization and the large number of genes encoding unique but structurally related subunits that comprise them. In insects, physiological studies have demonstrated the existence of diverse ligand-gated chloride channels, but their underlying structural and functional properties remain poorly characterized. This paper describes our isolation of members of this gene family from Drosophila melanogaster by PCR-based homology probing and summarizes investigations in this genetic model system of the only two insect subunit genes isolated to date to which functional properties have been ascribed. The implications of these findings for target-based insecticide discovery efforts are discussed in the context of the major paradigms established from the study of homologous vertebrate receptors.
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