title: Genomic structure of the POU-related hepatic transcription factor HNF-1 alpha.
abstract: Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor-1 alpha (HNF-1 alpha) is a vertebrate transcriptional regulatory protein which plays a prominent role in the activation of a large family of hepatocyte-specific genes. It is the prototype of a new subfamily of POU-related proteins important in embryogenesis and cell-type specification. Here we report on the genomic structure and DNA sequence of HNF-1 alpha of the hen. Functional domains are non-uniformly conserved between hen and mammals consistent with the notion of functions in the hen oviduct that were lost in mammals after avian mammalian separation. The unusual homeo-related DNA-binding domain is well preserved between birds and mammals. The exon/intron pattern of the gene changed during evolution. The rat gene consists of 9 exons, the chicken gene of 10. In mammals one intron was eliminated that in hens subdivides the serine-rich transactivation domain. Comparison of the sequences at this junction indicates the involvement of elements of the V(D)J recombination system in the process of intron elimination.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Physikalische Biochemie und Zellbiologie, Universität München.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hörlein
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Grajer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Igo-Kemenes
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005091:Exons; D005796:Genes; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D051537:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1; D051538:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha; D051539:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-beta; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D051381:Rats; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051538:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-alpha; C496489:Hnf1a protein, rat; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051537:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1; D051539:Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1-beta