title: Cloning of the cDNAs for mast-cell chymases from the jejunum of Mongolian gerbils, Meriones unguiculatus, and their sequence similarities with chymases expressed in the connective-tissue mast cells of mice and rats.
abstract: By using the combination of reverse-transcription CR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends methods, two distinct cDNAs encoding mast-cell proteases (chymases; MCPs), designated as gMCP-1 and -2, were successfully cloned and sequenced from the jejunum of Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus, infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. On the basis of a comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences with those of known rodent mast-cell chymases, gMCP-1 was found to be highly similar to mouse mast-cell protease (mMCP)-4 and rat mast-cell protease (rMCP)-1, while gMCP-2 was similar to mMCP-5 and rMCP-3. Alghough mMCP-4 and -5 and rMCP-1 and -3 were restrictedly or mainly expressed in connective-tissue mast cells and serosal mast cells, the gMCP-1 and -2 genes were mainly transcribed in the jejunal mucosa and to a lesser extent in the skin and tongue. Moreover, kinetic study after infection revealed that the amounts of the gMCP-1 and -2 mRNAs in jejunum paralleled well the degree of intestinal mastocytosis. The expression of gMCP-1 and -2 in mucosal mast cells of gerbil jejunum was also confirmed by in situ hybridization. Since a tryptase, another type of MCP, was also expressed in mucosal mast cells of gerbils but not in those of mice and rats, the expression of MPCs in mucosal mast cells of gerbils is different from those of mice and rats. The Mongolian gerbil would be a useful model with which to investigate the physiopathological role of MCPs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murakumo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ide
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Horii
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D053818:Chymases; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000201:enzymology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015870:Gene Expression; D005849:Gerbillinae; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007583:Jejunum / Q000201:enzymology*; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009559:Nippostrongylus; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D053818:Chymases