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Original

Functional characterization of P2X3 receptors fused with fluorescent proteins

, , , , , & show all
Pages 497-506 | Received 01 Jul 2005, Published online: 09 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

P2X receptor function in the CNS is poorly understood, and currently available data are partly inconsistent. In the presented study, we investigated P2X3 receptors stably expressed in HEK293 cells. Non-stationary noise analysis of whole cell currents and rapid ATP application through flash photolysis allowed for assessing the single channel conductance (6.6 pS) and the fast activation kinetics of the receptor (20 ms). The characteristics of channel desensitization and pharmacological properties matched previous findings. The properties of wild type receptors were compared with P2X3 constructs carrying a fluorescent tag (ECFP or DsRed2) at the C-terminus. These fluorescently labeled subunits formed functional receptors, with neither the affinity of the ligand binding site nor channel properties (ion selectivity, gating kinetics, single channel conductance) differing from wild type. We conclude that both fusion proteins tested here are suitable for generating transgenic mice, which can be expected to promote understanding of the physiological role of P2X3 receptors in CNS signaling.

Acronyms
human embryonic kidney cell line 293=

HEK293

enhanced cyan fluorescent protein=

ECFP

(enhancend) green fluorescent protein=

(E)GFP

Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein=

DsRed2

wild type=

wt

untranslated region=

UTR

neomycine phosphotransferase gene expression cassette=

neo

coding sequence=

CDS

adenosine 5′-triphosphate, P3-(1-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)ethyl) ester=

DMNPE-caged ATP

Acronyms
human embryonic kidney cell line 293=

HEK293

enhanced cyan fluorescent protein=

ECFP

(enhancend) green fluorescent protein=

(E)GFP

Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein=

DsRed2

wild type=

wt

untranslated region=

UTR

neomycine phosphotransferase gene expression cassette=

neo

coding sequence=

CDS

adenosine 5′-triphosphate, P3-(1-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)ethyl) ester=

DMNPE-caged ATP

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