Smooth Muscle-selective Alternatively Spliced Exon Generates Functional Variation in Cav1.2 Calcium Channels

Voltage-gated calcium channels play a major role in many important processes including muscle contraction, neurotransmission, excitation-transcription coupling, and hormone secretion. To date, 10 calcium channel α1-subunits have been reported, of which four code for L-type calcium channels. In our previous work, we uncovered by transcript-scanning the presence of 19 alternatively spliced exons in the L-type Cav1.2 α1-subunit. Here, we report the...