Neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-6

UniProtKB accession:  Q15825

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UniProtKB description:  Component of neuronal acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) that function as pentameric, ligand-gated cation channels with high calcium permeability among other activities. nAChRs are excitatory neurotrasnmitter receptors formed by a collection of nAChR subunits known to mediate synaptic transmission in the nervous system and the neuromuscular junction. Each nAchR subunit confers differential attributes to channel properties, including activation, deactivation and desensitization kinetics, pH sensitivity, cation permeability, and binding to allosteric modulators (Probable). CHRNA6 forms pentameric channels with CHRNB2, CHRNB3 and CHRNA4 that exhibit high sensitivity to ACh and nicotine and are predominantly expressed in only a few brain areas, including dopaminergic neurons, norepirephrine neurons and cells of the visual system (PubMed:16835356). nAChrs containing CHRNA6 subunits mediate endogenous cholinergic modulation of dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release in response to nicotine at nerve terminals.