Molecular cloning of a mouse G-protein-activated K+ channel (mGIRK1) and distinct distributions of three GIRK (GIRK1, 2 and 3) mRNAs in mouse brain.

We cloned the mouse brain G-protein-activated K+ channel 1 (mGIRK1) cDNA and determined the complete nucleotide and amino acid sequences of the coding region. In in situ hybridization using specific oligonucleotide probes, the signals for the three mGIRK (mGIRK1, mGIRK2 and mGIRK3) mRNAs were shown to be distributed widely as well as differently in most brain regions except for the caudate-putamen. Further, at least one, usually several, mGIRK mRNA with variable combinations was observed in most brain regions. These findings suggested that mGIRK channels may be essential in most brain regions in a signal transduction mediated by various G-protein-coupled receptors and that different subunit organizations of the mGIRK channel might occur in different neurons, resulting in diversity of their channel function in vivo.