e245 : severe coiler at all stages rather small and thin; resistant to 0.1 mM lannate; suppressed by sup-1 sup-2 and sup-8; normal ChAT (choline acetyltransferase) levels. ES3 ME0. NA > 10 (most alleles resemble e245 or have slightly weaker phenotype; also anomalous alleles e113 (less uncoordinated phenotype drug sensitive loopy movement reduced ChAT levels Egl-c) and e876 (similar)). See also cha-1 : cha-1/unc-17 is probably a complex locus.
See also e245, e283, e284, e327, e334, e335, e359
[C.elegansII] e245 : severe coiler at all stages, rather small and thin; slow irregular pumping;Ric, resistant to 0.1 mM lannate; suppressed by sup-1, sup-2 and sup-8; normal ChAT (choline acetyltransferase) levels. ES3 ME0. OA>10: ut64 (embryonic lethal, coiler, probable null), e335, e464 etc.(most viable alleles resemble e245 or slightly weaker). Also anomalous alleles: e113 (less uncoordinated phenotype, drug sensitive, loopy movement, reduced ChAT levels, Egl-c), e876 (similar), p1156 (Smg suppressible, fails to complement unc-17 and cha-1). cha-1-unc-17 is a complex locus. Cloned: 2 kb transcript, 5' UTR exon shared with cha-1; encodes predicted 532 aa vesicular acetylcholine transporter; 12 TM domains.Antibody staining punctate, most motor synapses. [Alfonso et al. 1993, 1994; AL; RM]
unc-17 encodes a synaptic vesicle acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) highly conserved amongst metazoans including Drosophila and humans (OMIM:600336); UNC-17 is essential for embryonic development, and is required in cholinergic neurons for loading acetylcholine into synaptic vesicles to which UNC-17 is localized; UNC-17 expression may be regulated indirectly by the UNC-4/UNC-37 transcriptional repressor complex, as UNC-17 expression is greatly reduced in unc-4 and unc-37 mutant backgrounds.
Enables acetylcholine transmembrane transporter activity. Involved in several processes, including cholinergic synaptic transmission; nematode larval development; and regulation of pharyngeal pumping. Located in neuron projection; organelle membrane; and synapse. Expressed in neurons; pm2; somatic nervous system; and in male. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in Alzheimer's disease; Huntington's disease; and congenital myasthenic syndrome 21. Is an ortholog of human SLC18A3 (solute carrier family 18 member A3).