High impact information on acr-16

• Mutations have been found in multiple classes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes, excitatory and inhibitory glutamate receptor genes, and candidate gap junction genes, allowing their function to be studied in vivo [1].
• Functional genomics of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans [2].
• Potential acetylcholine receptor (AChR) mutants of the nematode are selectable by resistance to the neurotoxic drug levamisole, a probable cholinergic agonist [3].
• Electrophysiological analysis of the acr-16 deletion mutant showed that the levamisole-insensitive muscle acetylcholine current was eliminated, whereas deletion of acr-8 had no effect [4].
• Genetic ablation of both the levamisole-sensitive receptor and acr-16 abolished all cholinergic synaptic currents at the NMJ and severely impaired C. elegans locomotion [4].

Biological context of acr-16

• Two homomer-forming nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits with 47% identity in their amino acid sequences were employed to compare the actions of cholinergic anthelmintics and ivermectin on expressed vertebrate and nematode nicotinic receptors of known molecular composition [5].
• Studies on one of these loci, acr-2, are described; acr-2 is located between sup-7 and unc-6 on the X chromosome [6].
• The simple nervous system of C. elegans possesses one of the largest nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene families known for any organism and a combination of genetic, microarray, physiological and reporter gene expression studies have added greatly to our understanding of the components of nematode muscle and neuronal nAChR subtypes [7].

Anatomical context of acr-16

• acr-16 encodes an essential subunit of the levamisole-resistant nicotinic receptor at the Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junction [4].
• 1. We have investigated activation and block, by the tetrahydropyrimidine anthelmintic, morantel, of nicotinic-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) currents in membrane vesicles isolated from somatic muscle cells of the nematode parasite Ascaris suum [8].

Associations of acr-16 with chemical compounds

• The subunit compositions of the gamma-aminobutyric acid- and levamisole-sensitive receptors have been elucidated, but the levamisole-insensitive acetylcholine receptor is uncharacterized [4].
• Morantel in the pipette (6 nM to 600 microM), activated single nicotinic AChR currents [8].
• Similar analyses were performed on a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene and a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene [9].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of acr-16

• Molecular cloning and functional co-expression of a Caenorhabditis elegans nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (acr-2) [6].

References