Nicotinic acetycholine receptors are present at high density in the nervous system of insects (Sattelle, 1980). Studies on the structure of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors have shown a degree of homology between insect a-like subunits and α-subunits from other species (Bossy et al. 1988; Marshall et al. 1990; Sawruk el al. 1990a). The locust α-subunit, when expressed in Xenopus oocytes, is able to form a functional receptor-channel that is apparently homo-oligomeric and mimics several properties of in vivo receptor pharmacology (Marshall et al. 1988,1990). It seems likely that the structure of native receptors will include other subunits; non-α-subunits have been described in several species of insect (Hermans-Borgmeyer et al. 1986; Sawruk et al. 1990b). Expression studies show that the α-subunit carries the binding site for acetylcholine and also for a...

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