title: Cloning and studies of the mouse cDNA encoding Smad3.
abstract: Following stimulation by the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) family in the cytoplasm, the Smad family is phosphorylated and translocated to the nucleus and activates several gene transcriptions. In this study, the mouse Smad3 cDNA including the open reading frame (ORF) was cloned from the mouse brain using a RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) technique, and its expression pattern was analyzed in mouse tissue using northern blot. The predicted amino acid (aa) sequences of mouse Smad3 showed a high homology with human Smad3 (99.3%) and mouse Smad2 (85.4%). It revealed that this protein may be highly conserved in different species of mammals. Northern blot analyses revealed that Smad3 was highly expressed in the brain and ovary, and that the size of major transcript was about 5.7 kb. In situ hybridization analyses revealed the high expression of Smad3 was detected in the pyramidal cells of the hippocampus, the granule cells of the dentate gyrus, the granular cells of the cerebral cortex and the granulosa cells of the ovary. Smad3 may be essential transducer of signals from TGF-beta and activin in these cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Notani
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurohmaru
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern / Q000662:veterinary; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000662:veterinary; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000662:veterinary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D051899:Smad2 Protein; D051900:Smad3 Protein; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497782:SMAD2 protein, human; C497790:SMAD3 protein, human; D051899:Smad2 Protein; C497783:Smad2 protein, mouse; D051900:Smad3 Protein; C497791:Smad3 protein, mouse; D015534:Trans-Activators; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta