title: Placental cathepsin M is alternatively spliced and exclusively expressed in the spongiotrophoblast layer.
abstract: Cathepsin M and cathepsin-3 are cysteine peptidases expressed exclusively in the murine placenta. Their expression increases continuously from 11.5 dpc until the end of gestation. The cathepsin M gene consists of 8 exons and 7 introns covering 6 kb of genomic DNA on mouse chromosome 13. Multiple variants of CTSM were identified which display alternative splicing of exon 2 or exon 7. Alternative splicing of exon 2 does not affect the translated region of CTSM whereas aberrant splicing of exon 7 will results in enzymatically inactive versions of CTSM which still might retain inhibitory activity towards cysteine peptidases. Besides two defined major transcription start sites the putative promoter region comprises of a TATA-box and a relatively low (41%) G+C content reflecting its highly specific spatial and temporal expression pattern. Similar features are found within the promoter region of CTS3 which is highly homologous to CTSM. Both cathepsin M and -3 expression are confined to the spongiotrophoblast layer of the mouse placenta an expression pattern which is unique among cysteine peptidases located within the cluster of cathepsin J-like peptidases on mouse chromosome 13.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Molekulare Medizin und Zellforschung, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Str. 17, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Salima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bode
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Jan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Deussing
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002403:Cathepsins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010920:Placenta / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site
chemical_list: D002403:Cathepsins; C034114:cathepsin M