title: The structure of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor gene.
abstract: The cellular receptor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPAR) is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored membrane protein that plays a central role in pericellular plasminogen activation. It contains 313 amino acid residues, including 28 cysteine residues in a pattern of three homologous repeats. The cysteine residue pattern suggests that uPAR belongs to a superfamily of proteins including CD59, murine Ly-6, and a variety of elapid snake venom toxins. A novel 1.7-kb uPAR cDNA was isolated that is missing exon 5 and that contains 380 bp not previously reported at the 5' end. This cDNA was used to probe a human genomic library from which three clones were isolated and analyzed. The uPAR gene consists of 7 exons spread over 23 kb of genomic DNA. Exons 2, 4, and 6 code for homologous domains within the mature protein, as do exons 3, 5, and 7; CD59-like homologous pairs are encoded by exons 2-3, 4-5, and 6-7, respectively. The structure of the gene for uPAR further confirms the relationship of this molecule to the superfamily containing CD59, Ly-6, and the elapid snake venom toxins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Casey
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Petranka
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kottra
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Fleenor
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Rosse
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004870:Erabutoxins / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D015698:Genomic Library; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012911:Snakes; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; C524898:PLAUR protein, human; C524899:Plaur protein, mouse; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator; D004870:Erabutoxins; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator