title: Cloning and analysis of the cDNA for the common alpha-subunit of the donkey pituitary glycoprotein hormones.
abstract: Reverse transcription-PCR was used to clone the coding region of the donkey (Equus asinus) glycoprotein hormone alpha-subunit transcript from pituitary gland RNA. The donkey alpha-subunit sequence demonstrated considerable identity with the horse (97% at the nucleotide level), confirming the very close evolutionary linkage between these two species. The predicted amino acid sequence revealed that the donkey alpha-subunit has the same unusual C-terminus as the horse alpha-subunit, when compared with all other mammalian alpha-subunits, including a Tyr-His transposition between positions 87 and 93 and Ile instead of Ser as the C-terminal residue. Since recent evidence indicates important involvement of this region of the alpha-subunit in receptor binding, these findings provide a possible partial explanation for the unique biological properties of the equine gonadotrophins.
authors.affiliation: Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chopineau
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018397:Equidae; D015292:Glycoprotein Hormones, alpha Subunit / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015292:Glycoprotein Hormones, alpha Subunit