1. A nucleic acid construct that encodes a hybrid seven-transmembrane receptor which facilitates the translocation of a seven-transmembrane
receptor across a cell membrane, said construct comprising:
(i) a first nucleic acid sequence that encodes a first seven-transmembrane receptor polypeptide that is the rhodopsin translocation
peptide contained in SEQ ID NO:3 or a nucleic acid sequence encoding a variant of said rhodopsin translocation peptide, wherein
said variant is identical to said rhodopsin translocation peptide but for a single conservative amino acid substitution which
substitutes a first amino residue in a first group for a second amino acid residue within the first group, wherein the first
group is selected from the groups consisting of: 1) Alanine (A), Serine (S), Threonine (T); 2) Aspartic acid (D), Glutamic
acid (E); 3) Asparagine (N), Glutamine (Q); 4) Arginine (R), Lysine (K); 5) Isoleucine (I), Leucine (L), Methionine (M), Valine
(V); and 6) Phenylalanine (F), Tyrosine (Y), Tryptophan (W); and
(ii) a second nucleic acid sequence that encodes a second seven-transmembrane receptor polypeptide, wherein said nucleic acid
construct when expressed in a cell results in a hybrid seven-transmembrane receptor polypeptide comprising the rhodopsin translocation
peptide or said variant, and the second seven-transmembrane receptor polypeptide, wherein the rhodopsin translocation peptide
or said variant directs the translocation of the second seven-transmembrane receptor polypeptide across the cell membrane,
wherein said variant translocates the seven-transmembrane receptor polypeptide as efficiently as the rhodopsin translocation
polypeptide.
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