Adrenergic Receptor Alpha 2C (ADRa2C)

Alpha-2-adrenergic receptors include 3 highly homologous subtypes: alpha_2A, alpha_2B, and alpha_2C. These receptors have a critical role in regulating neurotransmitter release from sympathetic nerves and from adrenergic neurons in the central nervous system. Studies in mouse revealed that both the alpha_2A and alpha_2C subtypes were required for normal presynaptic control of transmitter release from sympathetic nerves in the heart and from central noradrenergic neurons; the alpha_2A subtype inhibited transmitter release at high stimulation frequencies, whereas the alpha_2C subtype modulated neurotransmission at lower levels of nerve activity.ADRa2C encodes the alpha2C subtype, which contains no introns in either its coding or untranslated sequences.