CNGA2 antibody

Background of CNGA2 antibody

Cyclic nucleotides are important second messengers in many cellular functions such as visual transduction, and relaxation of smooth muscle cells. Cyclic nucleotides exert their cellular functions through three major classes of cellular receptors, one of them is the cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channels. The CNG channels are non-selective cation channels facilitating the influx of + and Ca2+ ions, following activation by intracellular cyclic nucleotides. In vertebrates, six members of the CNG channel family were identified and grouped according to sequence homology into two subtypes, CNGA and CNGB. To date, four types of the a subunits (CNGA1-4) and two b subunits (CNGB1, CNGB3) have been characterized. tive CNG channels are composed of a and b subunits in a tetrameric configuration. Each subunit contains 6 TM domains and intracellular cAMP or cGMP binding domains, but are also modulated by other factors including phosphorylation and calmodulin. In a heterologous expression system, only the a subunits are capable of forming functiol homomeric channels. CNG ion channels are essential in visual and olfactory sigl transduction. CNG channels were origilly detected in rod and cone photoreceptors and olfactory receptor cells, where they mediate the transduction of exterl sensory stimuli into neurol activity. CNGA2 is predomintly expressed in olfactory neurons (the olfactory type receptor). However, electrophysiological and molecular data indicate that CNGA1, and especially CNGA2, are widely distributed and functiolly active in many regions of the brain, including the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem.