title: Cloning and analysis of the cDNA for human fibrosin, a novel fibrogenic lymphokine.
abstract: Several diseases are complicated by tissue fibrosis, an outcome of chronic inflammation. Investigations have shown that soluble mediators produced by inflammatory cells may be a molecular link between chronic inflammatory cells and scarring. Using the murine model of schistosomiasis for studying chronic inflammation, a novel fibrogenic lymphokine, fibrosin, was isolated and characterized. Subsequently, we cloned the cDNA for murine fibrosin from a cDNA library derived from a mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte cell line, CDC25. In the current study, we cloned human fibrosin from cDNA libraries derived from human placenta and human peripheral blood lymphocytes. The isolated cDNA has an open reading frame spanning 531 nucleotides. Human fibrosin has considerable homology with murine fibrosin at the nucleotide as well as the amino acid level. And, like the murine fibrosin, it has no significant homology with nucleotide sequences encoding other proteins archived in the GenBank database. A 36-amino acid synthetic peptide constructed from the deduced amino acid sequence of human fibrosin is biologically active at subnanomolar concentrations. The availability of recombinant human fibrosin may allow us to better understand the involvement of this new lymphokine in certain chronic inflammatory as well as other diseases.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prakash
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Robbins
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D005355:Fibrosis; D015723:Gene Library; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D008222:Lymphokines; C092591:fibrosin