title: Human nonmuscle myosin heavy chain mRNA: generation of diversity through alternative polyadenylylation.
abstract: Myosin is a ubiquitous eukaryotic contractile protein that generates the force responsible for such diverse cellular movements as muscle contraction and cytokinesis. Although there have been numerous studies of sarcomeric myosin heavy chain (MHC) genes, no molecular clones have been reported that encode mammalian nonmuscle MHC. This study presents the molecular genetic characterization of a human nonmuscle MHC that is expressed in fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and macrophages. Human nonmuscle MHC amino acids are weakly homologous (33%) to sarcomeric MHC but are approximately 72% identical to smooth muscle MHC. In contrast to vertebrate sarcomeric MHCs, which generate diversity through the expression of members of a multigene family, an alternative polyadenylylation site is used in the nonmuscle MHC gene to generate multiple transcripts that encode the same protein. We have mapped this gene to chromosome 22. It is thus unlinked to either of the sarcomeric MHC gene clusters on human chromosomes 14 and 17.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Saez
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Shows
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Leinwand
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000378:metabolism; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D015879:Myosin Subfragments / Q000235:genetics*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011061:Poly A / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D015879:Myosin Subfragments; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011061:Poly A; D004247:DNA