Different structural organization of the encephalopsin gene in man and mouse.
Encephalopsin, also called Panopsin, is a recently discovered extraretinal photoreceptor, which may play a role in non-visual photic processes such as the entrainment of circadian rhythm or the regulation of pineal melatonin production. Based on RT-PCR data and comparative genomic sequence analysis, we show that the human OPN3 gene consists of six exons and expresses various splice variants, while the murine homologue contains four exons and produces just one splice form. Furthermore, the human OPN3 gene overlaps with the neighboring KMO gene on a genomic as well as on an RNA level, whereas the corresponding genes in mouse lie close together but do not overlap. This finding is of particular interest, since differences in gene organization between man and mouse, that have been reported so far, occur within gene clusters, i.e. the number of genes within a certain cluster may differ between man and mouse. OPN3 provides an exception to this rule, since it is positionally uncoupled from other genes of the opsin family.
Kasper
Grit
G
metaGen Pharmaceuticals, Oudenarderstrasse 16, 13347 Berlin, Germany.
Taudien
Stefan
S
Staub
Eike
E
Mennerich
Detlev
D
Rieder
Melissa
M
Hinzmann
Bernd
B
Dahl
Edgar
E
Schwidetzky
Uta
U
Rosenthal
André
A
Rump
Andreas
A
D024509:3' Flanking Region / Q000235:genetics; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics; D005807:Genes, Overlapping; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D050601:Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase; D051379:Mice; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
C430099:OPN3 protein, human; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D017299:Rod Opsins; D004247:DNA; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; D050601:Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase