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A cytoplasmic Slo3 isoform is expressed in somatic tissues

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Abstract

Slo3 is a pH-sensitive and weakly voltage-sensitive potassium channel that is essential for male fertility in mouse and whose expression is regarded as sperm-specific. These properties have proposed Slo3 as a candidate target for male contraceptive drugs. Nonetheless, the tissue distribution of Slo3 expression has not been rigorously studied yet. Applying computational and RT-PCR approaches, we identified expression of two short Slo3 isoforms in somatic mouse tissues such as brain, kidney and eye. These isoforms, which seem to result of transcription starting sites between exons 20 and 21, have an identical open reading frame, both encoding the terminal 381 amino acids of the cytosolic Slo3 domain. We corroborated the expression of these isoforms in mouse brain and testis by Western-blot. The complete isoform encoding the Slo3 ion channel was uniquely detected in testis, both at transcript and protein level. Although the functional role of the cytosolic Slo3 isoforms remains to be established, we propose that they may have a functional effect by modulating Slo channels trafficking and/or activity. This study confirms that expression of full-length Slo3 is sperm-specific but warns against developing contraceptive drugs targeting the C-terminal tail of Slo3 channels.

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Abbreviations

cDNA:

Complementary DNA

EST:

Expressed Sequence Tag

K+ :

Potassium ion

RCK:

Regulator of K+ conductance

Slo3-CT:

Slo3 carboxyl terminal

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Jose Luis De la Vega, Paulina Torres-Rodríguez, Yoloxóchitl Sánchez, Gabriela Cabeza, Sergio González, Timothy Munsey, and Elizabeth Mata for technical support. We also thank Juan Manuel Hurtado, Roberto Rodríguez, David Castañeda, Arturo Ocádiz and Shirley Ainsworth for computer and library services.

Funding

Dirección General de Asuntos de Personal Académico/Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Grant Number: IN202519 to CT; IN215519 to CB; IA200419 to JCC. DCW was supported by a BBSRC PhD studentship.

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Correspondence to Claudia L. Treviño.

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Chávez, J.C., Vicens, A., Wrighton, D.C. et al. A cytoplasmic Slo3 isoform is expressed in somatic tissues. Mol Biol Rep 46, 5561–5567 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-04943-z

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