title: Identification and characterization of ameloblastin gene in a reptile.
abstract: Ameloblastin (AMBN) is one of the enamel sheath proteins which presumably has a role in determining the prismatic structure of growing enamel crystals. There may therefore be a relationship between the molecular evolution of the AMBN gene and the development of enamel prismatic structures. To investigate whether such a relationship exists, it was necessary to identify the homologues of the AMBN gene in a reptile whose teeth lack an enamel prismatic structure. To this end, several clones containing AMBN cDNA were isolated from caiman jaws using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. Sequence analysis of the AMBN cDNA revealed an open reading frame of 1221 bp encoding a 407-amino-acid protein. Translation of the caiman cDNA starts at the methionine corresponding to the second of two putative start codons conserved in mammalian AMBN genes. The N-terminal part of the caiman AMBN shows high amino acid sequence similarities to human, pig, cattle, rat and mouse AMBN sequences, as well as several other features that have been conserved throughout the evolution of reptiles and mammals. Unexpectedly, the nucleotide sequences of the 3' untranslated region (UTR) are also conserved, not only within mammalian genes but also between reptilian and mammalian genes. The caiman AMBN gene is a single-copy gene, transcribed only in the jaws, presumably in teeth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, 1-8 Yamadaoka, Suita, 565-0871, Osaka, Japan. shintani@dent.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Seikou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shintani
authors.forename: Mitsuhiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobata
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toyosawa
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Akie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ooshima
mesh_terms: D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003746:Dental Enamel Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: C490889:AMBN protein, human; C490890:Ambn protein, mouse; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D003746:Dental Enamel Proteins; D004247:DNA