CHRNA7
Overview
CHRNA7 (cholinergic receptor nicotinic alpha 7 subunit) is a ligand-gated ion channel expressed at neuromuscular junctions and in the nervous system. In neuroblastoma, CHRNA7 expression in both normal postnatal adrenal progenitors (hC1) and chromaffin cells (hC4) supports a cholinergic progenitor identity hypothesis for the cell of origin of high-risk neuroblastoma.
Alterations observed in the corpus
- CHRNA7 is expressed in both the postnatal human adrenal progenitor cluster (hC1) and the normal postnatal chromaffin cell cluster (hC4), supporting a cholinergic progenitor identity; identified by single-nuclei RNA-seq of adrenal gland and 11 neuroblastoma tumors PMID:34493726.
Cancer types (linked)
- Neuroblastoma (NBL) — CHRNA7 expression in both hC1 progenitors and hC4 chromaffin cells supports the authors’ hypothesis that the hC1 postnatal TRKB+ cholinergic progenitor is a candidate cell of origin for high-risk neuroblastoma, distinct from previously described embryonic Schwann cell precursors PMID:34493726.
Co-occurrence and mutual exclusivity
Therapeutic relevance
- Whether CHRNA7-mediated cholinergic signaling is therapeutically actionable in high-risk neuroblastoma is not addressed in the corpus; the authors note this as a potential avenue but provide no pre-clinical evidence PMID:34493726.
Open questions
- Whether CHRNA7-mediated cholinergic signaling drives proliferation or undifferentiated state in hC1/nC3 cells is not functionally tested in the corpus PMID:34493726.
Sources
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