Unusual alternative splicing within the human kallikrein genes KLK2 and KLK3 gives rise to novel prostate-specific proteins.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and human kallikrein 2 are closely related products of the human kallikrein genes KLK3 and KLK2, respectively. Both PSA and human kallikrein 2 are produced and secreted in the prostate and have important applications in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. We report here the identification of unusual mRNA splice variants of the KLK2 and KLK3 genes that result from inclusion of intronic sequences adjacent to the first exon. The novel proteins encoded by these transcripts, named PSA-linked molecule (PSA-LM) and hK2-linked molecule (K-LM), share only the signal peptide with the original protein product of the respective gene. The mature proteins are entirely different and bear no similarity to the kallikrein family or to other proteins in the databases. As is the case with PSA, PSA-LM is expressed in the secretory epithelial cells of the prostate and is up-regulated in response to androgenic stimulation. A similar pattern of expression is suggested for K-LM.
David
Anat
A
Compugen Ltd., 72 Pinchas Rosen St., Tel Aviv 69512, Israel.
Mabjeesh
Nicola
N
Azar
Idit
I
Biton
Sharon
S
Engel
Sharon
S
Bernstein
Jeanne
J
Romano
Jacob
J
Avidor
Yoav
Y
Waks
Tova
T
Eshhar
Zelig
Z
Langer
Salomon Z
SZ
Lifschitz-Mercer
Beatriz
B
Matzkin
Haim
H
Rotman
Galit
G
Toporik
Amir
A
Savitsky
Kinneret
K
Mintz
Liat
L
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007610:Kallikreins; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen