Identification of multiple gephyrin variants in different organs of the adult rat.

The neurotransmitter receptor anchoring protein gephyrin is encoded by a highly mosaic gene whose primary transcript is subject to extensive alternative splicing. Gephyrin mRNAs are widely expressed in various mammalian tissues, and gephyrin has been implicated in neuron-specific and general metabolic functions. Using a novel affinity isolation procedure, we report the identification of different gephyrin variants in various organs of the adult rat. In particular, polypeptides of 52, 56, 60, and 91 kDa were detected in addition to the previously characterized 93-kDa protein. Our results suggest tissue-specific functional differences between gephyrin variants. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.