EntrezGeneSummary | Acetylcholinesterasehydrolyzestheneurotransmitter,acetylcholineatneuromuscularjunctionsandbraincholinergicsynapses,andthusterminatessignaltransmission.Itisalsofoundontheredbloodcellmembranes,whereitconstitutestheYtbloodgroupantigen.Acetylcholinesteraseexistsinmultiplemolecularformswhichpossesssimilarcatalyticproperties,butdifferintheiroligomericassemblyandmodeofcellattachmenttothecellsurface.ItisencodedbythesingleACHEgene,andthestructuraldiversityinthegeneproductsarisesfromalternativemRNAsplicing,andpost-translationalassociationsofcatalyticandstructuralsubunits.Themajorformofacetylcholinesterasefoundinbrain,muscleandothertissuesisthehydrophilicspecies,whichformsdisulfide-linkedoligomerswithcollagenous,orlipid-containingstructuralsubunits.Theother,alternativelysplicedform,expressedprimarilyintheerythroidtissues,differsattheC-terminalend,andcontainsacleavablehydrophobicpeptidewithaGPI-anchorsite.Itassociateswiththemembranesthroughthephosphoinositide(PI)moietiesaddedpost-translationally. |