title: Overlapping gene structure of human VLCAD and DLG4.
abstract: Very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) is a major enzyme catalysing the first step in mitochondrial beta-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids. During analysis of the VLCAD promoter, we discovered that another gene, discs-large-related 4 (DLG4), overlaps VLCAD and is transcribed in the opposite direction. DLG4 encodes postsynaptic density-95 (PSD95) protein, which plays critical roles in the formation and maintenance of synaptic junctions. The transcription start site of the VLCAD gene was determined by primer extension analysis and the overlapping structure of VLCAD and DLG4 was clarified. VLCAD and DLG4 are arranged in a head-to-head orientation on chromosome 17p13, and share a 245 bp overlapping region that contains part of DLG4 exon 1 and the entire exon 1 of VLCAD including 62 bp of protein coding sequence. Despite the overlap of their 5' ends, DLG4 and VLCAD exhibit peak mRNA expression in different tissues, suggesting that they are independently regulated at the transcriptional level. Interestingly, VLCAD and DLG4 genes do not overlap in the mouse or Drosophila genomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, 5205 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-2300, USA.
authors.forename: Changcheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blumberg
mesh_terms: D024506:5' Flanking Region / Q000235:genetics; D044942:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase, Long-Chain / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D000076122:Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics; D005807:Genes, Overlapping / Q000235:genetics*; D051528:Guanylate Kinases; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site
chemical_list: C501444:DLG4 protein, human; D000076122:Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein; C501447:Dlg4 protein, mouse; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C033652:postsynaptic density proteins; D044942:Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase, Long-Chain; D051528:Guanylate Kinases