title: Molecular cloning of a cDNA encoding a serine protease homologous to complement C1s precursor from rat C6 glial cells and its expression during glial differentiation.
abstract: A cDNA of rat C6 cells was cloned, which was considered to be involved in glial cell differentiation induced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP and theophylline. The cDNA fragment of the gene, termed r-gsp, was originally isolated by mRNA fingerprinting using arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction, and was homologous to complement C1s precursors of hamster and human. It encodes a protein of 694 amino acids containing a potential signal peptide, an epidermal growth factor-like domain surrounded by two complement C1r/C1s-related repeats, and a putative trypsin-type serine protease domain. Since the hamster and human C1s, and a protein encoded by r-gsp shared high similarity in primary structure, the r-gsp gene could encode a C1s counterpart of the rat. Messenger RNA expression of this gene was markedly increased during cyclic AMP-induced glial cell differentiation. Its expression profile was well correlated with those of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S100B, which are known as glial differentiation markers. It was, moreover, observed that the r-gsp expression in brain increased considerably after birth, like those of S100B and GFAP. The results presented here suggest that the rat C1s gene would be also implicated in glial differentiation besides the complement cascade.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Gifu University School of Medicine, Tsukasamachi-40, Gifu 500, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nozawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003173:Complement C1s / Q000737:chemistry*; D006224:Cricetinae; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000737:chemistry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases; D003173:Complement C1s