Molecular Cloning and Chromosomal Localization of the Human α7-Nicotinic Receptor Subunit Gene (CHRNA7)

Linkage of a neurophysiological deficit in schizophrenia to a chromosome 15 locus

“…L76630, also present in the same YAC, is a three-allele CA repeat, which is 3 kbp, 3Ј of the last exon of the ␣7-gene. D15S1360 was localized within a 7-centimorgan region between markers D15S165 and D15S144 on the chromosome 15 map, the region previously found to contain the ␣7-gene (47,48). Because of its lower heterozygosity, L76630 could not be definitively placed; possible locations extended from GABRB3 to D15S641.…”

“…DNA markers mapping to four chromosomal regions, one of which was 15q14, revealed small positive logarithm of odds ratio (lod) scores, assuming autosomal dominant transmission. Subsequently, the ␣7-nicotinic receptor gene was localized to the 15q14 region (47,48). Because of the converging evidence from neurobiological investigations, which implicated ␣7-receptor function in abnormal P50 inhibition, and the preliminary linkage study, which provided suggestive evidence for heritability of the trait near the ␣7-receptor gene's chromosomal location, we undertook a new linkage study with informative markers at the ␣7-receptor gene locus.…”

Therapeutic Potential ofα7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors

“…1) (Chini et al, 1994). Sequence alignment of CHRNA7 with the genes for the other known nAChR subunits revealed certain similarities, but also differences.…”

“…At about the same time, genetic studies unveiled possible splice variants of CHRNA7 and a partially duplicated gene located upstream in close proximity of CHRNA7, coined dup a7 (Chini et al, 1994;Gault et al, 1998). Although the relevance of splice variants in a7 nAChR function still needs to be fully characterized, further efforts have been dedicated to more detailed analysis of the duplicate gene, which corresponds to exons 5-10 of CHRNA7 and is located 1.6 Mb centromeric to CHRNA7, which is now referred to as CHRFAM7A (for a recent detailed review, see Sinkus et al, 2015).…”

Genetic Control of Survival and Weight Loss during Pneumonic Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) Infection

“…Prdm8 (protein domain containing 8) which may play a role in chromatin binding, cell morphology and cytoskeletal organization [176]. Chrna7 encodes the neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-7, a cholinergic receptor that mediates fast signal transmission at synapses and is a member of a superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels [177]. Interestingly, this gene is located in a major susceptibility locus for juvenile myoclonic epilepsy [178] and is near a chromosomal location involved in the genetic transmission of schizophrenia [179].…”