The human GCOM1 complex gene interacts with the NMDA receptor and internexin-alpha.

The known functions of the human GCOM1 complex hub gene include transcription elongation and the intercalated disk of cardiac myocytes. However, in all likelihood, the gene's most interesting, and thus far least understood, roles will be found in the central nervous system. To investigate the functions of the GCOM1 gene in the CNS, we have cloned human and rat brain cDNAs encoding novel, 105 kDa GCOM1 combined (Gcom) proteins, designated Gcom15, and identified a new group of GCOM1 interacting genes, termed Gints, from yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screens. We showed that Gcom15 interacts with the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor by co-expression in heterologous cells, in which we observed bi-directional co-immunoprecipitation of human Gcom15 and murine NR1. Our Y2H screens revealed 27 novel GCOM1 interacting genes, many of which are synaptic proteins and/or play roles in neurologic diseases. Finally, we showed, using rat brain protein preparations, that the Gint internexin-alpha (INA), a known interactor of the NMDAR, co-IPs with GCOM1 proteins, suggesting a GCOM1-GRIN1-INA interaction and a novel pathway that may be relevant to neuroprotection.

GRINL1A colocalizes with N-methyl D-aspartate receptor NR1 subunit and reduces N-methyl D-aspartate toxicity.

We hypothesized that proteins from the GRINL1A complex transcription unit called Gcom proteins modulate glutamatergic neurotransmission through interaction with the NR1 subunit of the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Cotransfection of hemagglutinin-tagged Gcom1 (GRINL1A combined transcript 1) and NR1 cDNAs into HEK293 cells revealed overlapping fluorescent signals in the plasma membrane. Coimmunoprecipitation studies demonstrated reciprocal coimmunoprecipitation from rat brain protein isolates, suggesting an interaction between GRINL1A proteins and the NMDA receptor. Anti-Gcom1 and anti-NR1 antibodies revealed colocalization of postsynaptic immunoreactivity in rat cortical and hippocampal neurons. Finally, anti-Gcom1 antibodies specifically inhibited NMDA excitotoxicity in rat cortical neurons, suggesting a functional interaction of Gcom and NR1 proteins. Our results are consistent with a facilatory role of GRINL1A proteins in glutamatergic signal transduction through interaction with the NMDA receptor.

The human GRINL1A gene defines a complex transcription unit, an unusual form of gene organization in eukaryotes.

Sequencing of genomic DNA and cloned transcripts from the 200-kb human GRINL1A gene on chromosome 15 revealed a complex gene structure comprising at least 28 exons. In one gene model, transcription begins at exon 1 and ends at exon 15b. Another gene model begins transcription at exon 20 and terminates at exon 23, 24, or 28. In a third gene model, transcription begins at exon 1 and ends at exon 23, thus conjoining two apparently discrete genes into a third combined gene. Exon 15 can function as a terminating exon or as an alternatively spliced internal exon, or it can be skipped altogether. Exons 11, 14, 15a, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20a, and 20f are found only in transcripts that do not terminate at exon 15b. Combined transcripts that convert two genes into a third provide evidence for an unusual form of gene organization and expression that we call the complex transcription unit (CTU). Organization of exons into a CTU increases the extractable information content of a segment of genomic DNA and constitutes a potentially significant mechanism for augmenting the proteome of a genome.