CHRNA7-FAM7A fusion protein is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''CHRFAM7A''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
.
The
nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are receptor polypeptides that respond to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Nicotinic receptors also respond to drugs such as the agonist nicotine. They are found in the central and peripheral n ...
(nAChRs) are members of a superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast signal transmission at synapses. The family member CHRNA7, which is located on chromosome 15 in a region associated with several neuropsychiatric disorders, is partially duplicated and forms a hybrid with a novel gene from the family with sequence similarity 7 (FAM7A). Alternative splicing has been observed, and two variants exist, for this hybrid gene. The N-terminally truncated products predicted by the largest open reading frames for each variant would lack the majority of the neurotransmitter-gated ion-channel ligand binding domain but retain the transmembrane region that forms the ion channel. Although current evidence supports transcription of this hybrid gene, translation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-like protein-encoding open reading frames has not been confirmed.
CHRFAM7A has not been found in nonhuman primates, and its occurrence in individuals of African descent is significantly lower than in Caucasian populations.
References
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Genes on human chromosome 15
Human proteins
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