Cholinergic Receptor, Nicotinic, Alpha 5 (CHRNa5)

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), such as CHRNA5, are members of a superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast signal transmission at synapses. The nAChRs are thought to be (hetero)pentamers composed of homologous subunits. See MIM 118508 for additional background information on AChRs.

The predicted 468-amino acid protein has a putative 22-amino acid signal peptide. The mature protein is 87% identical to rat alpha-5 protein. On Northern blots, alpha-5 was expressed in almost all neuronal and nonneuronal cells tested as 2 major transcripts of 2.7 and 2.1 kb, with additional mRNAs seen in 1 neuroblastoma cell line.