Thus, we observed that alcohol changed the BK transcript landscape dramatically. Initially, before alcohol exposure of the HNS explant, ALCOREX constituted 20% of total BK message, STREX comprised a smaller fraction (5%), similar to amounts found in other tissues (Zhu et al., 2005) while the INSERTLESS variant (no ALCOREX or STREX exons) constituted about 75% of total BK message (Figure 2D). Short (15 min) alcohol exposure caused a reorganization of BK alternatively spliced transcript profile, best illustrated as relative amounts: ALCOREX variants decreased four-fold, STREX doubled, while the INSERTLESS variant was changed the least (Figure 2D). Longer exposure times augmented these effects (Figure 2D, 6 hrs, 24 hrs).
