title: Isolation and characterization of the human aldehyde oxidase gene: conservation of intron/exon boundaries with the xanthine oxidoreductase gene indicates a common origin.
abstract: Aldehyde oxidase (AO) is a molybdo-flavo enzyme involved in the metabolism of various endogenous and exogenous N-heterocyclic compounds of pharmacological and toxicological importance. The enzyme is the product of a gene which is implicated in the aetio-pathogenesis of familial recessive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here, we report the cloning and structural characterization of the human AO gene. AO is a single copy gene approximately 85 kb long with 35 transcribed exons. The transcription-initiation site and the sequence of the 5'-flanking region, containing several putative regulatory elements, were determined. The 5'-flanking region contains a functional promoter, as assessed by appropriate reporter constructs in transient transfection experiments. Comparison of the AO gene structure shows conservation of the position and type of exon/intron junctions relative to those observed in the gene coding for another molybdo-flavoprotein, i.e. xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR). As the two genes code for proteins with a high level of amino acid identity, our results strongly suggest that the AO and XOR genetic loci arose as the consequence of a duplication event. Southern blot analysis conducted on genomic DNA from various animal species with specific cDNA probes indicates that the AO gene is less conserved than the XOR gene during evolution.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Centro Catullo e Daniela Borgomainerio, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche 'Mario Negri', via Eritrea, 62, 20157 Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terao
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurosaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demontis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zanotta
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garattini
mesh_terms: D042931:Aldehyde Oxidase; D000445:Aldehyde Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008982:Molybdenum; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014969:Xanthine Oxidase / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008982:Molybdenum; D014969:Xanthine Oxidase; D000445:Aldehyde Oxidoreductases; D042931:Aldehyde Oxidase