title: Characterization of tissue-specific and developmentally regulated alternative splicing of exon 64 in the COL5A1 gene.
abstract: The COL5A1 gene, a member of the clade B fibrillar collagen gene family, was recently shown to contain two alternatively spliced exons (64A and 64B) that encode 23 amino acids in the carboxyl-terminal propeptide. The two are identical in length, very similar in sequence, and used in a mutually exclusive fashion because of the small intron that separates them. Each COL5A1 allele uses both exons, but a given transcript will contain only one of the two exons. The sequences in other species are highly conserved at the amino acid level. The expression profile of the two isoforms was determined from analysis of RNA levels in a panel of murine tissues. While both isoforms were found in all tissues studied, actively proliferating tissues (liver, lung) used isoform B more often, while a less mitotically active tissue, brain, had a higher proportion of exon 64A. The high degree of conservation between the two exons is consistent with a regional genomic duplication. The presence of the two isoforms as far back as pufferfish (tetraodon) implies an important functional significance. The exact role determined by the two sequences is not known, but involvement in the determination of chain composition of mature type V collagen or regulation of cell activity is possible, given the differences in tissue distribution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. alm43@case.edu
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: LuAnn M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Judis
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schwarze
authors.forename: Polina M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Vaynshtok
authors.forename: Mitchell L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Drumm
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Byers
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D024062:Collagen Type V / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004535:Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / Q000473:pathology; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D013045:Species Specificity; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: C530725:COL5A1 protein, human; D024062:Collagen Type V; D022821:RNA Splice Sites