The ␤ 1 -adrenergic receptor (␤ 1 AR) is a key cell surface signaling protein expressed in the heart and other organs that mediates the actions of catecholamines of the sympathetic nervous system. A polymorphism in the intracellular cytoplasmic tail near the seventh transmembrane-spanning segment of the human ␤ 1 AR has been identified in a cohort of normal individuals. At amino acid position 389, Gly or Arg can be found (allele frequencies 0.26 and 0.74, respectively), the former previously considered as the human wild-type ␤ 1 AR. Using site-directed mutagenesis to mimic the two variants, CHW-1102 cells were permanently transfected to express the Gly-389 and Arg-389 receptors. In functional studies with matched expression, the Arg-389 receptors had slightly higher basal levels of adenylyl cyclase activities (

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