title: cDNA cloning of turtle prion protein.
abstract: Cloning of the cDNA coding for the 270-residue turtle prion protein is reported. It represents the most remote example thus far described. The entire coding region is comprised in a single exon, while a large intron interrupts the 5' UTR. The common structural features of the known prion proteins are all conserved in turtle PrP, whose identity degree to mammalian and avian proteins is about 40 and 58%, respectively. The most intriguing feature, unique to the turtle prion, is the presence of an EF-hand Ca(2+) binding motif in the C-terminal half of the protein.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Fisiologia Veterinaria e Biochimica, Università di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133, Milan, Italy. tatjana.simonic@unimi.it
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Simonic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duga
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strumbo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Asselta
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ceciliani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ronchi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011328:Prions / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014426:Turtles / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D011328:Prions; D012333:RNA, Messenger