title: Structural organization of the gene encoding the human lipocalin tear prealbumin and synthesis of the recombinant protein in Escherichia coli.
abstract: The genomic DNA fragment encoding the human lipocalin tear prealbumin (LCN1), a new member of the superfamily of hydrophobic molecule transporters, has been isolated and sequenced. The entire gene is approximately 6.2 kb in size and contains six protein-coding exons and a 3'-nontranslated exon. All exon/intron splice junctions exactly follow the GT/AG rule. The structure of the LCN1 gene is highly similar, in terms of numbers and sizes of exons and in intron phasing, to that of the genes encoding ovine beta-lactoglobulin, human placental protein P14, rat alpha 2-urinary globulin, rat prostaglandin D synthase and human alpha 1-microglobulin, thus supporting the close evolutionary relationship of these genes. The 5'-noncoding region of LCN1 contains, besides a TATA and CAAT box, several motifs that resemble regulatory elements of other eukaryotic genes, including potential metal-responsive elements (MRE) and a cAMP-responsive element (CRE). As a basis for further investigations concerning the structure-function relationship and to generate a source of recombinant protein for X-ray crystallography studies, LCN1 was produced in Escherichia coli as a fusion with maltose-binding protein.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Mikrobiologie (Med. Fak.), Universität Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Holzfeind
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Redl
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D054835:Lipocalin 1; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011228:Prealbumin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; C518443:LCN1 protein, human; C518449:Lcn1 protein, rat; D054835:Lipocalin 1; D011228:Prealbumin; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides