Biochemical and genetic characterization of the porcine Prophet of Pit-1 pituitary transcription factor.
Prophet of Pit-1 (Prop-1) is a paired class homeodomain transcription factor that is specifically expressed in the pituitary gland. Mutations in the Prop-1 gene cause compound pituitary diseases in mouse models and human patients. We have cloned and analyzed the porcine ortholog of Prop-1. Analysis of cDNAs revealed that the porcine Prop-1 sequence is similar to the mouse and human proteins within the homeodomain and carboxyl terminus, but the amino terminus is poorly conserved. The Prop-1 gene consists of three exons and two introns and spans 3.8 kilobases of genomic DNA. In addition, we mapped Prop-1 to the q arm of pig chromosome two. During development, Prop-1 is expressed at the time of pituitary organogenesis. In the adult, expression was observed at low levels only in the pituitary gland. The porcine Prop-1 protein displays similar biochemical, DNA binding, and transcriptional activities to human PROP-1. We conclude that, although the structural divergence between the porcine and human PROP-1 molecules may indicate some distinct functions, the porcine Prop-1 gene encodes a pituitary transcription factor with similar overall activities to the human ortholog.
Sloop
K W
KW
Department of Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 723 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5132, USA.
McCutchan Schiller
A
A
Smith
T P
TP
Blanton
J R
JR
Rohrer
G A
GA
Meier
B C
BC
Rhodes
S J
SJ
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002460:Cell Line; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D007668:Kidney / Q000196:embryology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013552:Swine / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C102134:Prophet of Pit-1 protein; D014157:Transcription Factors; D012313:RNA