title: Interspecies conservation and differential expression of mouse desmoglein gene family.
abstract: Epithelial cell adhesion is mediated by intercellular junctions, called desmosomes. Desmogleins (Dsg; Dsg1, Dsg2 and Dsg3) are calcium-dependent transmembrane adhesion components of the desmosomes. While Dsg1 and Dsg3 are mainly restricted to stratified squamous epithelia, Dsg2 is expressed in essentially all desmosome-containing epithelia. In the epidermis, Dsg2 and Dsg3 are expressed in the basal keratinocytes while Dsg1 is expressed throughout the upper differentiating cell layers. To date, in mouse, only Dsg3 has been characterized by molecular cloning. In this study, we have cloned and characterized the mouse Dsg1 and Dsg2 genes. The full-length mouse Dsg1 cDNA (5.5 kb) contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 3171 bp encoding a precursor protein of 1057 amino acids. The Dsg2 cDNA (6.3 kb) has an ORF of 3366 bp coding for a precursor protein of 1122 amino acids. Mouse Dsg2 protein shares 76% identity with human DSG2 but only 26% and 33% identity with mouse Dsg1 and Dsg3, respectively. Analysis of intron/exon organization of the desmoglein genes revealed significant conservation. However, the mRNA expression patterns of these desmogleins during mouse embryonic development and in various adult tissues are variable. While Dsg2 and Dsg3 are expressed in all developmental stages, Dsg1 expression is delayed until day 15 of mouse embryos. In adult mouse tissues, Dsg2 is widely expressed while the expression of Dsg1 and Dsg3 is restricted to select tissues. In summary, while desmogleins share high homology at both the gene and protein level, their expression is spatially and temporally regulated, potentially contributing to their significant role in cell-cell adhesion during development.
authors: Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. my.mahoney@mail.tju.edu
authors: My G
authors: MG
authors: Mahoney
authors: Anisha
authors: A
authors: Simpson
authors: Sirpa
authors: S
authors: Aho
authors: Jouni
authors: J
authors: Uitto
authors: Leena
authors: L
authors: Pulkkinen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D051183:Desmoglein 1; D051301:Desmoglein 2; D051184:Desmoglein 3; D051182:Desmogleins; D051180:Desmoplakins; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D007438:Introns; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D051183:Desmoglein 1; D051301:Desmoglein 2; D051184:Desmoglein 3; D051182:Desmogleins; D051180:Desmoplakins; C495299:Dsg1a protein, mouse; C495315:Dsg2 protein, mouse; C495300:Dsg3 protein, mouse; D020033:Protein Isoforms