National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2757:259-268. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3642-8_11.
The functional analysis of ctenophore neurotransmitter receptors, transporters, and ion channels can be greatly simplified by use of heterologous expression systems. Heterologous expression allows the characterization of individual membrane proteins, expressed at high levels in cells, where background activity by endogenous ion channels and transporters is with few exceptions minimal. The goal of such experiments is to gain an in-depth understanding of the behavior and regulation of individual molecular species, which is challenging in native tissue, but especially so in the case of ctenophores and other marine organisms. Coupled with transcriptome analysis, and immunohistochemical studies of receptor expression in vivo, experiments with heterologous expression systems can provide valuable insight into cellular activity, prior to more challenging functional studies on native tissues.
通过使用异源表达系统，可以大大简化栉水母神经递质受体、转运体和离子通道的功能分析。异源表达允许在细胞中高水平表达的单个膜蛋白的特征化，其中内源性离子通道和转运体的背景活性在大多数情况下是最小的。此类实验的目的是深入了解单个分子物种的行为和调节，这在天然组织中具有挑战性，而在栉水母和其他海洋生物中则更是如此。与转录组分析以及体内受体表达的免疫组织化学研究相结合，异源表达系统的实验可以在对天然组织进行更具挑战性的功能研究之前，为细胞活性提供有价值的见解。
