Exon

About: Exon is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 38308 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1745408 citations. The topic is also known as: exons.

Targeted disruption of µ chain membrane exon causes loss of heavy-chain allelic exclusion

Abstract: BURNET'S clonal selection theory1 suggests that each B lymphocyte is committed to a single antibody specificity. This is achieved by a programme of somatic rearrangements of the gene segments encoding antibody variable (V) regions, in the course of B-cell development2,3. Evidence from immunoglobulin-transgenic mice and immunoglobulin-gene-transfected transformed pre-B cells suggests that the membrane form of the immunoglobulin heavy (H) chain of class µ (µm), expressed from a rearranged H-chain (IgH) locus, may signal allelic exclusion of the homologous IgH locus in the cell4–6 and initiation of light (L)-chain gene rearrangement in the Ig/c loci6. We report here that targeted disruption of the membrane exon of the µ chain indeed results in the loss of H-chain allelic exclusion. But, some K chain gene rearrangement is still observed in the absence of µm expression.

Characterization of the human gene (PTGS2) encoding prostaglandin‐endoperoxide synthase 2

Abstract: The human gene (PTGS2) encoding an inducible isozyme of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase (prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2) that is distinct from the well-characterized and constitutive isozyme (prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1), was isolated using a polymerase-chain reaction-generated cDNA fragment probe for human prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the entire human prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2 gene demonstrated that it is more than 8.3 kb in size and consists of ten exons; this gene is very similar to the murine and chicken prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2 genes. The structures of exons in the human prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2 gene were also similar to those of the human prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-1 gene (PTGS1). However, the sizes of introns in the human prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2 gene were generally smaller than those of the human prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-1 gene. Primer-extension analysis indicated that the transcriptional-start site is 134 bases upstream of the translational-initiation site. The sequence of the 1.69-kb region of nucleotides preceding the transcriptional-start site and the first 0.8-kb intron contained a canonical TATA box and various transcriptional-regulatory elements (CArG box, NF-IL6, PEA-1, myb, GATA-1, xenobiotic-response element, cAMP-response element, NF-kappa B, PEA-3, Sp-1 and 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate-response element). The nucleotide sequence of the 5'-flanking region (275 bp) of the human prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2 gene showed 63% similarity to the sequence of murine prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2/TIS10 gene, but essentially no homology to the chicken prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-2 gene, and human and murine prostaglandin-endoperoxide-synthase-1 genes. A fluorescence in situ hybridization study showed that the human genes coding for prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1 (PTGS1) and prostaglandin-endoperoxidase synthase 2 (PTGS2) were mapped to distinct chromosomes 9q32-q33.3 and 1q25.2-q25.3, respectively, indicating that these genes are not genetically linked.

Previously uncharacterized isoforms of divalent metal transporter (DMT)-1: implications for regulation and cellular function.

Abstract: Divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) mediates apical iron uptake into duodenal enterocytes and also transfers iron from the endosome into the cytosol after cellular uptake via the transferrin receptor. Hence, mutations in DMT1 cause systemic iron deficiency and anemia. DMT1 mRNA levels are increased in the duodenum of iron-deficient animals. This regulation has been observed for DMT1 mRNA harboring an iron–responsive element (IRE) in its 3′ UTR, but not for a processing variant lacking a 3′UTR IRE, suggesting that the IRE regulates the expression of DMT1 mRNA in response to iron levels. Here, we show that iron regulation of DMT1 involves the expression of a previously unrecognized upstream 5′ exon (exon 1A) of the human and murine DMT1 gene. The expression of this previously uncharacterized 5′ exon is tissue-specific and particularly prevalent in the duodenum and kidney. It adds an in-frame AUG translation initiation codon extending the DMT1 ORF by a conserved sequence of 29–31 amino acids. In combination with the IRE- and non-IRE variants in the 3′UTR, our results reveal the existence of four DMT1 mRNA isoforms predicting the synthesis of four different DMT1 proteins. We show that two regulatory regions, the 5′ promoter/exon 1A region and the IRE-containing terminal exon participate in iron regulation of DMT1 expression, which operate in a tissue-specific way. These results uncover an unexpected complexity of DMT1 expression and regulation, with implications for understanding the physiology, cell biology, and pathophysiology of mammalian iron metabolism.

Childhood hepatoblastomas frequently carry a mutated degradation targeting box of the beta-catenin gene.

Abstract: Hepatoblastomas (HBs) are embryonal tumors affecting young children and representing the most frequent malignant liver tumors in childhood. The molecular pathogenesis of HB is poorly understood. Although most cases are sporadic, the incidence is highly elevated in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis coli. These patients carry germline mutations of the APC tumor suppressor gene. APC controls the degradation of the oncogene product beta-catenin after its NH2-terminal phosphorylation on serine/threonine residues. APC, as well as beta-catenin, has been found to be a central effector of the growth promoting wingless signaling pathway in development. To find out if this pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of sporadic HBs, we examined 52 biopsies and three cell lines from sporadic HBs for mutations in the APC and beta-catenin genes. Using single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis, deletion screening by PCR, and direct sequencing, we found a high frequency of beta-catenin mutations in sporadic HBs (48%). The mutations affected exon 3 encoding the degradation targeting box of beta-catenin leading to accumulation of intracytoplasmic and nuclear beta-catenin protein. The high frequency of activating mutations in the beta-catenin gene indicates an important role in the pathogenesis of HB.