title: The prepro vasoactive intestinal contractor (VIC)/endothelin-2 gene (EDN2): structure, evolution, production, and embryonic expression.
abstract: Murine vasoactive intestinal contractor (VIC) and its human analog endothelin-2 (ET2) are potent vasoactive hormones composed of 21 amino acids. To study the structural characteristics of the VIC/ET2 gene (HGMW-approved symbol EDN2), we isolated the full length of the mouse VIC gene. Sequence analysis indicates that a biologically active mature VIC peptide is produced from a 175-residue precursor protein; preproVIC (PPVIC). Several remarkable similarities of the PPVIC gene to the human preproendothelin-1 gene strongly suggest that the two genes have arisen from a common progenitor by gene duplication. Transfection of ACHN adenocarcinoma cells with the cDNA resulted in the production of VIC peptide. VIC production was increased by the deletion of the 3'-untranslated region, which contains an AU-rich mRNA destabilizing sequence. Increased PPVIC gene expression during the late embryonic stage suggests an important function in development. This study provides the basis for disruption and regulation analysis of the gene, which may lead to a better understanding of VIC/ET2's physiological significance.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8566, Japan. ksaida@nibh.go.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mitsui
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchide
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D019333:Endothelin-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019333:Endothelin-2; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D011498:Protein Precursors; C059568:vasoactive intestinal constrictor