Identification and Expression of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel β Subunits in Zebrafish

Voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCC) play important roles in electrically excitable cells and embryonic development. The VGCC beta subunits are essential for membrane localization of the channel and exert modulatory effects on channel functions. In mammals, the VGCC beta subunit gene family contains four members. In zebrafish, there appear to be seven VGCC beta subunits including the previously identified beta 1 subunit. cDNAs for six additional VGCC beta subunit homologs were identified in zebrafish, their chromosomal locations determined and their expression patterns characterized during embryonic development. These six genes are primarily expressed in the nervous system with cacnb4a also expressed in the developing heart. Sequence homology, genomic synteny and expression patterns suggest that there are three pairs of duplicate genes for beta 2, beta 3, and beta 4 in zebrafish with distinct expression patterns during embryonic development. Developmental Dynamics 237:3842-3852, 2008. 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.