Xenopus oocytes injected with GIRK1 mRNA express inwardly rectifying K+ channels resembling IKACh. Yet IKACh. the atrial G protein-regulated ion channel, is a heteromultimer of GIRK1 and CIR. Reasoning that an oocyte protein might be substituting for CIR, we cloned XIR, a CIR homolog endogenously expressed by Xenopus oocytes. Coinjecting XIR and GIRK1 mRNAs produced large, inwardly rectifying K+ currents responsive to m2-muscarinic receptor stimulation. The m2-stimulated currents of oocytes expressing GIRK1 alone decreased 80% after injecting antisense oligonucleotides specific to the 5′ untranslated region of XIR, but GIRK1/CIR currents were unaffected. Thus, GIRK1 without XIR or CIR only ineffectively produces currents in oocytes. This result suggests that GIRK1 does not form native homomultimeric channels.
CITATION STYLE
Hedin, K. E., Lim, N. F., & Clapham, D. E. (1996). Cloning of a Xenopus laevis inwardly rectifying K+ channel subunit that permits GIRK1 expression of IKACh currents in oocytes. Neuron, 16(2), 423–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80060-4
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