title: Organization of the human zeta-crystallin/quinone reductase gene (CRYZ).
abstract: zeta-Crystallin is a protein highly expressed in the lens of guinea pigs and camels, where it comprises about 10% of the total soluble protein. It has recently been characterized as a novel quinone oxidoreductase present in a variety of mammalian tissues. We report here the isolation and characterization of the human zeta-crystallin gene (CRYZ) and its processed pseudogene. The functional gene is composed of nine exons and spans about 20 kb. The 5'-flanking region of the gene is rich in G and C (58%) and lacks TATA and CAAT boxes. Previous analysis of the guinea pig gene revealed the presence of two different promoters, one responsible for the high lens-specific expression and the other for expression at the enzymatic level in numerous tissues. Comparative analysis with the guinea pig gene shows that a region of approximately 2.5 kb that includes the promoter responsible for the high expression in the lens in guinea pig is not present in the human gene.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Mechanisms of Ocular Diseases, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Zigler
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002162:Camelus / Q000235:genetics; D003459:Crystallins / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D015698:Genomic Library; D006168:Guinea Pigs / Q000235:genetics; D015186:Hominidae / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011544:Pseudogenes; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D016385:TATA Box
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004247:DNA; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone)