At least three alternatively spliced mRNAs encoding two alpha subunits of the Go GTP-binding protein can be expressed in a single tissue.
Hybridization blot (Northern) analysis of mRNA coding for alpha subunits of the Go signal-transducing protein detects three bands at 5.7, 4.2, and 3.2 kilobases (kb). We showed previously that the largest is a splice variant coding for the type 2 form of the polypeptide (alpha o2) and the two smaller RNAs react with a probe specific for the seventh of the eight exons that code for the type 1 form (alpha o1). In the present work we demonstrate that the 3.2- and 4.2-kb mRNAs also result from alternative splicing, the splice site being located 31 nucleotides downstream from the termination codon of the open reading frame, and that therefore the alpha o mRNA is made up of at least nine exons. All three alpha o mRNAs are expressed in both heart and brain, more in the latter than the former, as well as in the hamster insulin-secreting tumor (HIT) cell from which the cDNAs encoding the splice variants had been cloned. In contrast, in lung and testis we found only the 5.7-kb alpha o2 mRNA. The same analysis was unable to detect alpha o-specific sequences in either kidney, pancreas (whole), spleen, or liver, while at the same time detecting strong bands for alpha s mRNA. A comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions of the hamster cDNAs cloned here indicated that previously cloned alpha o cDNAs all belong to the same alpha o1A slice subclass derived from 3.2-kb mRNA. The comparison also revealed that the sequences of the untranslated regions are highly conserved among three species (rat, hamster, and brain). Their 3' tails are 99.1% (HIT versus bovine, 200 known bases) and 99.7% (HIT versus rat, 229 bases) identical, and their 5' leader sequences are 92.7% (HIT versus bovine, 165 known bases) and 90.7% (HIT versus rat, 670 bases) identical. This indicates that untranslated regions of mRNAs need not exhibit high degrees of species variation.
Bertrand
P
P
Department of Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
Sanford
J
J
Rudolph
U
U
Codina
J
J
Birnbaumer
L
L
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002417:Cattle; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D006224:Cricetinae; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins