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Background: Heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins), which integrate signals between receptors and effector proteins, are composed of an alpha, a beta, and a gamma subunit. These subunits are encoded by families of related genes. This gene encodes a beta subunit which belongs to the WD repeat G protein beta family. Beta subunits are important regulators of alpha subunits, as well as of certain signal transduction receptors and effectors. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (C825T) in this gene is associated with essential hypertension and obesity. This polymorphism is also associated with the occurrence of the splice variant GNB3-s, which appears to have increased activity. GNB3-s is an example of alternative splicing caused by a nucleotide change outside of the splice donor and acceptor sites. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. Additional alternatively spliced tr