Bestrophin 1

Bestrophin-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BEST1 gene.

It can be associated with Vitelliform macular dystrophy.

Function

BEST1 belongs to the bestrophin family of calcium-activated anion channels, which includes BEST2, BEST3, and BEST4. Bestrophins are transmembrane (TM) proteins that share a homology region containing a high content of aromatic residues, including an invariant arg-phe-pro (RFP) motif. Bestrophins are believed to function as chloride channels that may also serve as regulators of intracellular calcium signalling.

Bestrophin 1 was shown to be permeable for chloride, thiocyanate, bicarbonate, glutamate, and GABA. Bestrophin 1-mediated GABA release has recently been demonstrated to be responsible for tonic inhibition in cerebellar granule cells, and has been linked to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease.

Gene structure

The bestrophin genes share a conserved gene structure, with almost identical sizes of the 8 RFP-TM domain-encoding exons and highly conserved exon-intron boundaries. Each of the 4 bestrophin genes has a unique 3-prime end of variable length.

VMD

VMD may refer to: