View source for CHRNA7

{{Infobox_gene}}
'''Neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-7''', also known as '''nAChRα7''', is a [[protein]] that in humans is encoded by the ''CHRNA7'' [[gene]].<ref name="pmid8188270">{{cite journal | vauthors = Chini B, Raimond E, Elgoyhen AB, Moralli D, Balzaretti M, Heinemann S | title = Molecular cloning and chromosomal localization of the human alpha 7-nicotinic receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7) | journal = Genomics | volume = 19 | issue = 2 | pages = 379–81  | date = Jun 1994 | pmid = 8188270 | pmc =  | doi = 10.1006/geno.1994.1075 }}</ref> The protein encoded by this gene is a subunit of certain [[nicotinic acetylcholine receptor]]s (nAchR).

== Function ==
The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are members of a superfamily of [[ligand-gated ion channel]]s that mediate fast signal transmission at synapses. The nAChRs are thought to be hetero-pentamers composed of homologous subunits. The proposed structure for each subunit is a conserved N-terminal extracellular domain followed by three conserved transmembrane domains, a variable cytoplasmic loop, a fourth conserved transmembrane domain, and a short C-terminal extracellular region. The protein encoded by this gene forms a [[homo-oligomer]]ic channel, displays marked permeability to calcium ions and is a major component of brain nicotinic receptors that are blocked by, and highly sensitive to, [[alpha-bungarotoxin]]. Once this receptor binds [[acetylcholine]], it undergoes an extensive change in conformation that affects all subunits and leads to opening of an ion-conducting channel across the plasma membrane. This gene is located in a region identified as a major susceptibility locus for juvenile [[myoclonic epilepsy]] and a chromosomal location involved in the genetic transmission of [[schizophrenia]]. An evolutionarily recent partial duplication event in this region results in a hybrid containing sequence from this gene and a novel FAM7A gene.<ref>{{cite web | title = Entrez Gene: CHRNA7 cholinergic receptor, nicotinic, alpha 7| url = https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=gene&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=1139| accessdate = }}</ref>

== Interactions ==
CHRNA7 has been shown to [[Protein-protein interaction|interact]] with [[FYN]].<ref name=pmid11278378>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kihara T, Shimohama S, Sawada H, Honda K, Nakamizo T, Shibasaki H, Kume T, Akaike A | title = alpha 7 nicotinic receptor transduces signals to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase to block A beta-amyloid-induced neurotoxicity | journal = J. Biol. Chem. | volume = 276 | issue = 17 | pages = 13541–6  | date = April 2001 | pmid = 11278378 | doi = 10.1074/jbc.M008035200 }}</ref>

==Gene expression==
The CHRNA7 gene is primarily expressed in the posterior [[amygdala]]r nucleus and the field [[Cornu Ammonis region 3|CA3]] of [[Ammon's horn]] in the mouse, and in the [[mammillary body]] in humans. Gene expression patterns from the [[Allen Brain Atlas]]es can be seen [http://www.brain-map.org/search/index.html?query=chrna7&fa=false&e_fa=t here].

== See also ==
* [[Alpha-7 nicotinic receptor]]
* [[Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor]]
* [[Acetylcholine receptor]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin | 2}}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Green WN, Millar NS | title = Ion-channel assembly | journal = Trends Neurosci. | volume = 18 | issue = 6 | pages = 280–7 | year = 1995 | pmid = 7571003 | doi = 10.1016/0166-2236(95)93915-K }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Hogg RC, Raggenbass M, Bertrand D | title = Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: from structure to brain function | journal = Rev. Physiol. Biochem. Pharmacol. | volume = 147 | issue =  | pages = 1–46 | year = 2003 | pmid = 12783266 | doi = 10.1007/s10254-003-0005-1 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Gallowitsch-Puerta M, Tracey KJ | title = Immunologic role of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and the nicotinic acetylcholine alpha 7 receptor | journal = Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. | volume = 1062 | issue =  | pages = 209–19 | year = 2005 | pmid = 16461803 | doi = 10.1196/annals.1358.024 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Peng X, Katz M, Gerzanich V, Anand R, Lindstrom J | title = Human alpha 7 acetylcholine receptor: cloning of the alpha 7 subunit from the SH-SY5Y cell line and determination of pharmacological properties of native receptors and functional alpha 7 homomers expressed in Xenopus oocytes | journal = Mol. Pharmacol. | volume = 45 | issue = 3 | pages = 546–54 | year = 1994 | pmid = 8145738 | doi =  }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Hillier LD, Lennon G, Becker M, Bonaldo MF, Chiapelli B, Chissoe S, Dietrich N, DuBuque T, Favello A, Gish W, Hawkins M, Hultman M, Kucaba T, Lacy M, Le M, Le N, Mardis E, Moore B, Morris M, Parsons J, Prange C, Rifkin L, Rohlfing T, Schellenberg K, Bento Soares M, Tan F, Thierry-Meg J, Trevaskis E, Underwood K, Wohldman P, Waterston R, Wilson R, Marra M | title = Generation and analysis of 280,000 human expressed sequence tags | journal = Genome Res. | volume = 6 | issue = 9 | pages = 807–28 | year = 1996 | pmid = 8889549 | doi = 10.1101/gr.6.9.807 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Elliott KJ, Ellis SB, Berckhan KJ, Urrutia A, Chavez-Noriega LE, Johnson EC, Veliçelebi G, Harpold MM | title = Comparative structure of human neuronal alpha 2-alpha 7 and beta 2-beta 4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits and functional expression of the alpha 2, alpha 3, alpha 4, alpha 7, beta 2, and beta 4 subunits | journal = J. Mol. Neurosci. | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | pages = 217–28 | year = 1996 | pmid = 8906617 | doi = 10.1007/BF02736842 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Chavez-Noriega LE, Crona JH, Washburn MS, Urrutia A, Elliott KJ, Johnson EC | title = Pharmacological characterization of recombinant human neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors h alpha 2 beta 2, h alpha 2 beta 4, h alpha 3 beta 2, h alpha 3 beta 4, h alpha 4 beta 2, h alpha 4 beta 4 and h alpha 7 expressed in Xenopus oocytes | journal = J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. | volume = 280 | issue = 1 | pages = 346–56 | year = 1997 | pmid = 8996215 | doi =  }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Groot Kormelink PJ, Luyten WH | title = Cloning and sequence of full-length cDNAs encoding the human neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits beta3 and beta4 and expression of seven nAChR subunits in the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y and/or IMR-32 | journal = FEBS Lett. | volume = 400 | issue = 3 | pages = 309–14 | year = 1997 | pmid = 9009220 | doi = 10.1016/S0014-5793(96)01383-X }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Navaneetham D, Penn A, Howard J, Conti-Fine BM | title = Expression of the alpha 7 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in normal and myasthenic human thymuses | journal = Cell. Mol. Biol. (Noisy-le-grand) | volume = 43 | issue = 3 | pages = 433–42 | year = 1997 | pmid = 9193799 | doi =  }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Gault J, Robinson M, Berger R, Drebing C, Logel J, Hopkins J, Moore T, Jacobs S, Meriwether J, Choi MJ, Kim EJ, Walton K, Buiting K, Davis A, Breese C, Freedman R, Leonard S | title = Genomic organization and partial duplication of the human alpha7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene (CHRNA7) | journal = Genomics | volume = 52 | issue = 2 | pages = 173–85 | year = 1998 | pmid = 9782083 | doi = 10.1006/geno.1998.5363 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Curtis L, Blouin JL, Radhakrishna U, Gehrig C, Lasseter VK, Wolyniec P, Nestadt G, Dombroski B, Kazazian HH, Pulver AE, Housman D, Bertrand D, Antonarakis SE | title = No evidence for linkage between schizophrenia and markers at chromosome 15q13-14 | journal = Am. J. Med. Genet. | volume = 88 | issue = 2 | pages = 109–12 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10206225 | doi = 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19990416)88:2<109::AID-AJMG1>3.0.CO;2-3 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Sander T, Schulz H, Vieira-Saeker AM, Bianchi A, Sailer U, Bauer G, Scaramelli A, Wienker TF, Saar K, Reis A, Janz D, Epplen JT, Riess O | title = Evaluation of a putative major susceptibility locus for juvenile myoclonic epilepsy on chromosome 15q14 | journal = Am. J. Med. Genet. | volume = 88 | issue = 2 | pages = 182–7 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10206240 | doi = 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19990416)88:2<182::AID-AJMG16>3.0.CO;2-Z }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Sato KZ, Fujii T, Watanabe Y, Yamada S, Ando T, Kazuko F, Kawashima K | title = Diversity of mRNA expression for muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes and neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits in human mononuclear leukocytes and leukemic cell lines | journal = Neurosci. Lett. | volume = 266 | issue = 1 | pages = 17–20 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10336173 | doi = 10.1016/S0304-3940(99)00259-1 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Wang HY, Lee DH, D'Andrea MR, Peterson PA, Shank RP, Reitz AB | title = beta-Amyloid(1-42) binds to alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor with high affinity. Implications for Alzheimer's disease pathology | journal = J. Biol. Chem. | volume = 275 | issue = 8 | pages = 5626–32 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10681545 | doi = 10.1074/jbc.275.8.5626 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Schuller HM, Jull BA, Sheppard BJ, Plummer HK | title = Interaction of tobacco-specific toxicants with the neuronal alpha(7) nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and its associated mitogenic signal transduction pathway: potential role in lung carcinogenesis and pediatric lung disorders | journal = Eur. J. Pharmacol. | volume = 393 | issue = 1-3 | pages = 265–77 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10771023 | doi = 10.1016/S0014-2999(00)00094-7 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Kihara T, Shimohama S, Sawada H, Honda K, Nakamizo T, Shibasaki H, Kume T, Akaike A | title = alpha 7 nicotinic receptor transduces signals to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase to block A beta-amyloid-induced neurotoxicity | journal = J. Biol. Chem. | volume = 276 | issue = 17 | pages = 13541–6 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11278378 | doi = 10.1074/jbc.M008035200 }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Freedman R, Leonard S, Gault JM, Hopkins J, Cloninger CR, Kaufmann CA, Tsuang MT, Farone SV, Malaspina D, Svrakic DM, Sanders A, Gejman P | title = Linkage disequilibrium for schizophrenia at the chromosome 15q13-14 locus of the alpha7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7) | journal = Am. J. Med. Genet. | volume = 105 | issue = 1 | pages = 20–2 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11424985 | doi = 10.1002/1096-8628(20010108)105:1<20::AID-AJMG1047>3.0.CO;2-C }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Engidawork E, Gulesserian T, Balic N, Cairns N, Lubec G | title = Changes in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits expression in brain of patients with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease | journal = J. Neural Transm. Suppl. | volume =  | issue = 61 | pages = 211–22 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11771745 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-7091-6262-0_17 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{MeshName|CHRNA7+protein,+human}}
* {{UCSC gene info|CHRNA7}}

{{NLM content}}
{{Ligand-gated ion channels}}

[[Category:Ion channels]]
[[Category:Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors]]