Molecular evolution of voltage-sensitive ion channel genes: on the origins of electrical excitability |
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Authors: | Strong M; Chandy KG; Gutman GA |
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Institution: | Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine 92717. |
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Abstract: | We have analyzed nucleic acid and amino acid sequence alignments of a
variety of voltage-sensitive ion channels, using several methods for
phylogenetic tree reconstruction. Ancient duplications within this family
gave rise to three distantly related groups, one consisting of the Na+ and
Ca++ channels, another the K+ channels, and a third including the cyclic
nucleotide-binding channels. A series of gene duplications produced at
least seven mammalian homologues of the Drosophila Shaker K+ channel;
clones of only three of these genes are available from all three mammalian
species examined (mouse, rat, and human), pointing to specific genes that
have yet to be recovered in one or another of these species. The
Shaw-related K+ channels and the Na+ channel family have also undergone
considerable expansion in mammals, relative to flies. These expansions
presumably reflect the needs of the high degree of physiological and
neuronal complexity of mammals. Analysis of the separate domains of the
four-domain channels (Ca++ and Na+) supports their having evolved by two
sequential gene duplications and implies the historical existence of a
functional two-domain channel.
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