Structure and chromosomal assignment to 22q12 and 17qter of the ras-related Rac2 and Rac3 human genes.
Members of the Rho/Rac/Cdc42Hs family of GTPases have been shown to participate in many aspects of the signaling of cell growth and differentiation. Although the biochemical properties of these GTPases have been extensively studied, very little is known about the structure of the corresponding genes. To gain insight on the evolution of the Rho family, we were interested in studying the genomic structure of several members. We report here the structure and the localization to 22q12 of the human Rac2 gene, as well as the localization to 17qter of Rac3, a new member closely related to Rac1 and Rac2. Unlike the structure of its closest relative ARH-G gene, which contains a single intron, Rac2 is made of at least 7 exons, spanning over 18 kb of DNA. Comparison of gene structure and exonic borders suggests that the emergence of the whole superfamily took place early during evolution.
Courjal
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IGM-UMR5535, CNRS, route de Mende, Montpellier cedex 5, 34293, France.
Chuchana
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Theillet
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Fort
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C075397:RHOG protein, human; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020744:rac GTP-Binding Proteins; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins