Historical Background
The human α2A adrenergic receptor (α2AAR) was first cloned in human platelet cells in 1987 (Kobilka et al. 1987) and was further characterized upon creation of a stable Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line expressing the human α2AAR (Fraser et al. 1989). Cloning of the rat (Chalberg et al. 1990) and pig (Guyer et al. 1990) α2AAR revealed high sequence homology with the human receptor. This conservation across species indicates that the α2AAR plays an important physiological role.
Activation and Signaling
The α2AAR is a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that couples mainly to Gi/o proteins and inhibits voltage dependent Ca2+ channel activation and adynyl cyclase. Additionally, the α2AAR activates inwardly rectifying K+channels and induces phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Akt, thus...
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Gannon, M., Wang, Q. (2018). Alpha-2A Adrenergic Receptor. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_101493
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