Cloning of a bovine voltage‐gated K+ channel gene utilising partial amino acid sequence of a dendrotoxin‐binding protein from brain cortex

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Abstract
Several variants of fast-activating, voltage-dependant K+ channels exist in the nervous system where they control cell excitability and synaptic transmission, some of which are blocked selectively by α-dendrotoxin. Cloning of a K+ channel from bovine genomic DNA was achieved using a primer based on the N-terminal sequence of the larger subunit from the purified toxin acceptor, in conjunction with secondary primers, in the polymerase chain reaction. The resultant amino acid sequence is highly homologous to RCK 5 already cloned from rat brain, which yields a K+ current susceptible to α-dendrotoxin, when expressed in oocytes. These findings establish conclusively that the extensively characterised α-dendrotoxin acceptor is a K+ channel protein.