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A number of pharmacologically and electrophysiologically distinct voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels have been identified in mammalian neurons. Two rat brain Ca2+ channel alpha 1 subunits (rbC-I and rbC-II) have been isolated by molecular cloning and shown to be highly related (95%) to the cardiac dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channel. The rbC-II protein is distinct from rbC-I in that it contains a 3 amino acid insert in the putative cytoplasmic loop between domains II and III and a 28 amino acid substitution corresponding to the third transmembrane segment (S3) of the fourth domain. We show that rbC-I and rbC-II transcripts are generated by alternative splicing and that they are differentially expressed in the rat CNS.

We describe the isolation and characterization of several rat brain cDNAs that are homologous to the alpha 1 subunit of heart and skeletal muscle dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca channels. Northern blot analysis of 32 cDNAs shows that they can be grouped into four distinct classes (A, B, C, and D), each corresponding to a distinct hybridization pattern of brain mRNAs. Southern blot and DNA sequencing suggest that each class of cDNA represents a distinct gene or gene family. In the regions sequenced, the rat brain class C and D gene products share approximately 75% amino acid identity with the rabbit skeletal muscle Ca channel. In addition, the class C polypeptide is almost identical to the rabbit cardiac Ca channel (97% identity). In contrast, the rat brain class A and B cDNAs are more distantly related to dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca channels (47-64% amino acid identity) and to the brain class C and D genes (51-55% amino acid identity). To examine the functional significance of the isolated brain cDNAs, hybrid depletion experiments were performed in Xenopus oocytes. Antisense oligonucleotides against class A and B cDNAs each partially inhibited, and a class C oligonucleotide almost fully inhibited, the expression of Ba current in rat brain mRNA injected oocytes; but none of the oligonucleotides affected the expression of voltage-gated Na or K conductances. The clone characterization and sequencing results demonstrate that a number of distinct, yet related, voltage-gated Ca-channel genes are expressed in the brain. The antisense oligonucleotide experiments specifically show that one or several of the Ca-channel classes are related to the Ca channels observed in rat brain mRNA injected oocytes.