Three related cDNAs (C184L, C184M, and C184S) were isolated from a developing mouse brain cDNA library. C184S is the 5'-end portion and C184M is the 3'-end portion, respectively, of C184L. C184S and C184M have open reading frames of 199 amino acids (ORF1) and 189 amino acids (ORF2), respectively; C184L has both ORF1 and ORF2 (dicistronic structure), but seems to translate only ORF1. Southern blot analysis suggests that all of the three related mRNAs are transcribed from the same single gene. The intervening region of C184L cDNA between ORF1 and ORF2 contained a promoter sequence for C184M mRNA, which is transcribed from the corresponding genomic sequence. Very recently, a cDNA encoding human homologue of ORF1 (human autoantigen p27) and a cDNA encoding a different mouse isoform of ORF2 (mammary tumor virus receptor) were reported. Our results indicate that the mRNAs encoding these apparently unrelated proteins are transcribed within an adjacent or overlapping area on the genome, suggesting the same origin of the two transcription units.
Copyright 1999 Academic Press.