title: An unprocessed pseudogene of inducible nitric oxide synthase gene in human.
abstract: Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS or NOSII) is one of three distinct NOS isoforms in human. The NOSII isoform is expressed in a variety of cells and tissues in response to endotoxins and cytokines. The human genome contains at least two loci for the NOSII gene, one of which (NOSII-1) has previously been assigned to proximal region of the long arm (cen-q11.2 or q11.2-q12) or to pericentric (p11-q11) regions of chromosome 17. The present study, carried out using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method, shows that a pseudogene gene (NOSII-2) is mapped to chromosome 17q11.2 site. The NOSII-2 sequence contains the exon and intron sequences present in NOSII-1 but with several mutations such as single base substitutions, additions, and deletions. Additionally, the NOSII-2 sequence also contains an incomplete reductase domain which corresponds only to the cofactor binding sites without the oxygenase domain that carry heme and substrate binding sites. NOSII-2, therefore, appears to be an unprocessed pseudogene, which cannot be translated to a functional enzyme because of its incomplete sequences and mutations.
authors.affiliation: Section of Chemical Pharmacology, Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, NHLBI, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. parkshin@dragon.inha.ac.kr
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Krishna
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000235:genetics*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D011544:Pseudogenes
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; C496319:NOS2 protein, human; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II