title: Characterization of novel 3'untranslated regions and related polymorphisms of the gene NPPC, encoding for the C-type natriuretic peptide.
abstract: Elevated plasmatic levels of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) were found in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), but its use as sensitive and specific clinical bio-marker is still controversial. In fact, high levels of CNP were also observed in patients classified in low severity New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes. CNP is encoded by a gene poorly studied (NPPC, natriuretic-precursor peptide C), where the regulatory regions are not well defined and the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) poorly ascertained. In the present work, we focused on the characterization of the 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) of the gene, using Rapid Amplification of cDNA 3'-End (3' RACE), and we identified two novel transcript isoforms (L-3'UTR; S-3'UTR; accession number JF420840, HQ419060 respectively). Since it could be hypothesized that genetic variations could explain the observed inter-patients differences, we searched for novel SNPs, by the use of High Resolution Melting (HRM). The results showed a complete lack of genetic variations among our series of samples. Moreover, a preliminary evaluation, using literature information and bioinformatic prediction allowed us to predicted the putative relevant microRNAs binding to the novel 3'UTRs that could modulate the post-transcriptional regulation of NPPC and affect the plasmatic levels of CNP. We obtained 750 and 1024 predicted miRNAs targeting the S- and L-3'UTRs, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, 56126, Italy.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Melaiu
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Facioni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabiati
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Giannessi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gemignani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Del Ry
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D020098:Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D034622:RNA Interference; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D035683:MicroRNAs; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D020098:Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type