The cDNA RPE1 and monoclonal antibody HMB-50 define gene products preferentially expressed in retinal pigment epithelium.
As a first step towards identifying genes expressed specifically in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), we generated a bovine RPE cDNA library. In preliminary characterization of this library, we isolated a clone, RPE1, that was identified as the bovine homologue of a human cDNA thought to encode the HMB-50 melanoma antigen. Sequence analysis suggests RPE1 encodes a membrane-anchored glycoprotein. In Northern blot analysis of RNA from bovine tissues, the 2.5 kb RPE1 transcript was detected only in the RPE. Southern blot analysis suggested the presence of a single bovine rpe1 gene. In normal human eyes, HMB-50 immunoreactivity was also restricted to the RPE; no immunoreactivity was detected in other intraocular pigmented cells. Thus, RPE1 and HMB-50 define gene products preferentially expressed in the RPE at the RNA and protein levels, respectively.
Kim
R Y
RY
Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Wistow
G J
GJ
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002417:Cattle; D015342:DNA Probes; D004270:DNA, Circular / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D015723:Gene Library; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000502:physiology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015342:DNA Probes; D004270:DNA, Circular