title: Identification of two transcripts of canine, feline, and porcine interleukin-1 alpha.
abstract: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha)-specific primers using total RNA from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated lung macrophages resulted in the amplification of two distinct cDNA fragments. Cloning and sequencing of the canine and feline fragments revealed that, except for the absence of a specific 174 nucleotide sequence, the short and the long transcripts were identical. The in-frame 174 nucleotide deletion corresponds to exon 5 of the human and murine IL-1alpha gene, which encodes the cleavage site for calpain, a protein necessary for the processing of the IL-1alpha precursor into mature IL-1alpha. The two transcripts were found in the dog, cat and pig; analysis by RT-PCR, Southern and Northern blot hybridization showed no expression of the shorter IL-1alpha mRNA in equine or bovine macrophages. Expression of the two canine IL-1alpha transcripts was also detected in synovial membranes and was coordinately up-regulated in response to Borrelia burgdorferi infection under both in-vitro and in-vivo conditions.
authors.affiliation: James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. as34@cornell.edu
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Straubinger
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Viveiros
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Straubinger
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002415:Cats / Q000235:genetics*; D002417:Cattle / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics*; D006736:Horses / Q000235:genetics; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000235:genetics; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000235:genetics; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics*; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D016209:Interleukin-8