The α8 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (α8 nAChR; gene: CHRNA8) is a neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α-subunit identified in non-mammalian vertebrates. The α8 subunit can also form homomeric acetylcholine-gated ion channels and can heteromerize with other nAChR subunits to produce receptors with different pharmacological properties.
α8 is an α-type nAChR subunit and contains the canonical features of neuronal α subunits.
Clinical relevance Since CHRNA8 is not present in mammalian genomes, it has no direct known clinical associations in humans.
See also
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor CHRNA7 Ligand-gated ion channel
References
Further reading
Gerzanich V, Anand R, Lindstrom J (1994). "Homomers of alpha 8 and alpha 7 subunits of nicotinic receptors exhibit similar channel but contrasting binding site properties." Mol. Pharmacol. 45(2):212–220. PMID 7509438. Pedersen JE, Bergqvist CA, Larhammar D (2019). "Evolution of vertebrate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors." BMC Evol. Biol. 19:38. doi:10.1186/s12862-018-1341-8. PMCID: PMC6354393.