title: Alternative splicing gives rise to two novel long isoforms of Zn-alpha 2-glycoprotein, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily.
abstract: We have isolated, from a rat liver cDNA library, two cDNAs encoding novel long isoforms of Zn-alpha2-glycoprotein (Zn-alpha2-gp), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily with a high degree of sequence similarity to class-I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens. Nucleotide (nt) sequence analysis of these two novel cDNAs has revealed that they contain insertions of 138 and 123 nt between the second and third exons of Zn-alpha2-gp, resulting in in-frame insertions of 46 and 41 amino acids (aa), respectively. Analysis of the mechanism of generation of both isoforms, named Zn-alpha2-gpA and Zn-alpha2-gpB, has shown that they result from a series of alternative splicing events, including alternative use of two additional exons, and of two different 3'-splice sites present in the first of these novel exons. The occurrence of these alternative splicing events in Zn-alpha2-gp could contribute to increasing the diversity of this nonpolymorphic and soluble class-I MHC antigen.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Funcional, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Uría
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fueyo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balbín
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Velasco
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pendás
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López-Otín
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D029589:Seminal Plasma Proteins; D000090203:Zn-Alpha-2-Glycoprotein
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006023:Glycoproteins; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D029589:Seminal Plasma Proteins; D000090203:Zn-Alpha-2-Glycoprotein