The nicotinic acetylcholine (AcCho) receptor (AcChoR) Is a multisubunit protein complex of stoichiometry a2PVY6. The several subunits show homology with each other within a given species; in addition, homology Is found between analogous subunits between species. We have used the phage SP6 RNA polymerase ascription system to produce singlespeiesI RNA in vitro for various AcChoR subunits from cDNAs.Injection of an equimolar mixture of RNA for the a, 3, y, and The recent cloning of cDNAs for the subunits of the Torpedo electric organ AcChoR (6-11) makes it possible to apply the powerful techniques of molecular biology to the study of the structure, evolution, biosynthesis, and mechanisms that underlie the operation of the complex. Our interest lies in the mechanism of ligand activation and ion permeation through the channel. Through the use of site-directed mutagenesis (12), we hope to identify the structural features and, thus, the mechanisms involved in the functioning of the receptor. Since the mutagenesis involves manipulations at the DNA level, a suitable expression system must be developed to study the properties of these "mutant" receptors.Xenopus oocytes have proved to be an attractive system for the expression ofproteins coded for by exogenous nucleic acids. Nuclear injection ofDNA (13) or cytoplasmic injection of mRNA (14) In this report, we describe another approach to the expression of Torpedo AcChoRs in Xenopus oocytes. We utilize the highly efficient phage SP6 RNA polymerase in vitro transcription system developed by Melton and colleagues (18,19). This system allows the synthesis of microgram quantities of pure RNA from cDNA. When used with cDNAs for the individual subunits of the AcChoR, injection of the in vitro transcripts into oocytes gives rise to functional Torpedo AcChoRs in large quantities that can be studied readily by both biochemical and electrophysical techniques.While this manuscript was in preparation, Mishina et al. (20) described an expression system essentially similar to that described here. They have used this system to study the effects of segment deletion or single amino acid changes introduced into the Torpedo AcChoR a subunit on receptor function. For our first study, we have chosen to test the effect of a much larger "mutation" in that we have asked whether a hybrid receptor containing the Torpedo a, (3, and y subunits and the mouse 8 subunit is functional. This study necessarily required examination of the effects of one-by-one deletion of each individual Torpedo subunit on receptor assembly and function.
MATERIALS AND METHODSPlasmids. Full-length Torpedo AcChoR cDNA clones were provided by D. Noonan of Scripps Research Institute (a subunit), T. Claudio of Yale University (J3 and 8 subunits) and S. Heinemann of Salk Institute (y subunit; ref. 10). The mouse BC3H-1 cell line AcChoR 8 subunit cDNA clone was isolated in this laboratory (21). The cDNA inserts were excised from the vector and inserted into plasmid pSP62-PL (provided by D. Melton of Harvard University), ...