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J C Fiddes

Publications and source records attributed to J C Fiddes.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Nucleotide sequence of a bovine clone encoding the angiogenic protein, basic fibroblast growth factor.

Basic and acidic fibroblast growth factors (FGF's) are potent mitogens for capillary endothelial cells in vitro, stimulate angiogenesis in vivo, and may participate in tissue repair. An oligonucleotide probe for bovine basic FGF was designed from the nucleotide sequence of the amino-terminal exon of bovine acidic FGF, taking into account the 55 percent amino acid sequence homology between the two factors. With this oligonucleotide probe, a full length complementary DNA for basic FGF was isolated from bovine pituitary. Basic FGF in bovine hypothalamus was shown to be encoded by a single 5.0-kilobase messenger RNA; in a human hepatoma cell line, both 4.6- and 2.2-kilobase basic FGF messenger RNA's were present. Both growth factors seem to be synthesized with short amino-terminal extensions that are not found on the isolated forms for which the amino acid sequences have been determined. Neither basic nor acidic FGF has a classic signal peptide.

Angiogenesis Inducing Agents↗
PubMed1986

The genes for basic and acidic fibroblast growth factors are on different human chromosomes.

Basic and acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) are related both structurally and functionally. A bovine basic FGF cDNA and a human acidic FGF genomic fragment were used as hybridization probes in Southern blot analysis of DNAs isolated from a panel of 30 mouse-human cell hybrids. The gene encoding basic FGF was assigned to human chromosome 4, and the gene for acidic FGF to human chromosome 5. The two growth factors which are presumed to have a common evolutionary ancestor are therefore not linked. A HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism was detected for human basic FGF.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Human basic fibroblast growth factor: nucleotide sequence and genomic organization.

Clones encoding the angiogenic endothelial cell mitogen, basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF), have been isolated from human cDNA libraries made from kidney, fetal heart, fetal liver, term placenta, and a breast carcinoma. Basic FGF cDNA clones are present in these libraries at very low levels when compared to the quantity of the growth factor in the tissues. This observation, combined with the fact that several of the clones represent unspliced transcripts, suggests that cytoplasmic basic FGF mRNA is unstable and that the protein is stored in tissues. The amino acid sequence of human basic FGF, deduced from the sequence of these cDNAs and from genomic clones, is 99% homologous to that of bovine basic FGF, implying a strong selection pressure for maintenance of function and structure. As with the bovine factor, human basic FGF does not appear to have a signal peptide sequence. Southern blot analysis of human genomic DNA and mapping of the cloned gene shows that there is only one basic FGF gene. All of the basic, heparin-binding endothelial cell mitogens of similar amino acid composition that have been described must therefore be products of this single gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1986

Characterization of human prorenin expressed in mammalian cells from cloned cDNA.

Human preprorenin was synthesized in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with an expression vector containing renin cDNA sequences. These cells secrete an inactive form of renin (EC 3.4.23.15) that can be activated by trypsin. This inactive renin is precipitable by antibody generated against purified human renal renin and also by antisera generated to a synthetic peptide derived from the amino acid sequence of the pro segment of preprorenin (anti-propeptide), indicating that the secreted inactive enzyme is a form of prorenin. Analysis of [35S]methionine-labeled proteins immunoprecipitated from CHO cell conditioned culture medium indicates that prorenin is expressed in CHO cells as two distinct forms that differ in their degree of glycosylation. In vitro trypsin activation of prorenin cleaves approximately 4.5 kDa from the protein, rendering it unreactive with the antipropeptide antiserum but still recognizable by anti-renal renin antibody. These results show directly that the prorenin expressed by CHO cells is an inactive enzyme that is activated by trypsin cleavage of the pro segment. The ability to express human renin in this form will allow for the purification of both active and inactive forms of the enzyme in quantities sufficient for detailed physiological and structural studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Cloning, sequence analysis, and processing of the rat and human atrial natriuretic peptide precursors.

Complementary DNA sequences and structural genes encoding the atrial natriuretic peptide precursor (prepro-ANP) have been cloned. Analysis of DNA sequences, complementary to rat atrial prepro-ANP mRNA, has revealed that the various natriuretic peptides isolated from rat atrium reside at the carboxy terminus of a 152-amino-acid precursor protein. The human gene, comprised of three exons and two intervening sequences, encodes a protein of 151 amino acids highly homologous to the rat precursor. Although putative proteolytic processing sites can be identified throughout the prepro-ANP amino acid sequence, the natural form of the mature ANP has not been identified. Therefore, the sites and mechanisms of prepro-ANP processing to mature peptides forms are unknown. However, the successful cloning of the prepro-ANP gene and corresponding cDNAs provide the necessary molecular tools to address these fundamental questions relating to the regulation of ANP synthesis and processing in atrial and extraatrial tissues.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1984

Only three of the seven human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit genes can be expressed in the placenta.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a placental hormone essential for the maintenance of pregnancy. While the alpha subunit of this hormone is encoded by a single gene, the beta subunit is encoded by a complex family of seven very similar genes or pseudogenes. Two approaches have been taken to establish which of these genes are functional. First, we have used two restriction enzyme site polymorphisms to correlate 15 independently isolated beta hCG cDNA clones with their corresponding genes. Second, we have used transient expression in COS cells to assay for correctly-initiated transcription from six of the seven beta hCG gene promoters. From these data, we conclude that, at most, only three of the seven beta hCG genes are expressed in the placenta. Comparison of the sequences of a functional and a non-functional beta hCG gene reveals no obvious differences, such as promoter changes, that could account for this differential expression.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Identification of clones that encode chicken tropomyosin by direct immunological screening of a cDNA expression library.

A cDNA library of approximately equal to 9,000 members has been prepared from chicken smooth muscle mRNA by using the plasmid expression vector pUC8. Addition of Sal I and EcoRI linkers at different stages during the preparation of the cDNA resulted in a population of molecules, most of which had EcoRI linkers at the end of the cDNA that corresponded to the 5' end of the template mRNA and Sal I linkers at the end that corresponded to the 3' end of the mRNA. The cDNA molecules then were inserted into a EcoRI-Sal I-cut plasmid vector, pUC8, that contains the transcriptional and translational start sequences from the lacZ gene upstream of the EcoRI site. The sequential addition of the linkers to the cDNA ensured that most of the cDNAs were inserted into pUC8 in the proper orientation for expression. The colonies were replica plated onto nitrocellulose filters and lysed in situ with chloroform vapor. The library was screened for colonies producing products immunologically related to chicken tropomyosin by incubating the filters first with a rabbit antitropomyosin antibody and second with a 125I-labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG. Two colonies were detected that reacted specifically with the antisera. Plasmids from both clones have been partially subjected to sequence analysis; both plasmids contain cDNAs that encode tropomyosin. These protocols are potentially useful for the identification of cDNA clones for genes expressed at low levels from large cDNA expression libraries.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1983

The human genome contains seven genes for the beta-subunit of chorionic gonadotropin but only one gene for the beta-subunit of luteinizing hormone.

We have used restriction enzyme analysis to sample similarities and differences among eight cloned genes, isolated from two independent libraries, which hybridize to a cDNA for the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). We find that one of the cloned genes encodes the beta-subunit of the closely related hormone, human luteinizing hormone (hLH). Using differential hybridization of human DNA with beta hCG- and beta hLH-specific probes, we show that there are seven beta hCG genes but only a single beta hLH gene in the human genome. This single beta hLH gene is linked to at least three beta hCG genes. Our restriction analysis reveals that the seven beta hCG genes are extremely similar but not identical, and that there are no obvious structural rearrangements to indicate which, if any, are pseudogenes. These data also reveal that the beta hLH gene is far more homologous to the seven beta hCG genes than the beta hCG:beta hLH protein sequence homology of 82% might predict. We propose that the beta hCG gene arose by a duplication of an ancestral beta hLH gene and that, once the beta hCG function was established, the ancestral beta hCG gene itself duplicated and rearranged, creating the present organization of multiple beta hCG genes.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗
PubMed1981

The gene encoding the common alpha subunit of the four human glycoprotein hormones.

The gene encoding the common alpha subunit of the four human glycoprotein hormones, chorionic gonadotropin (CG), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), has been cloned in a bacteriophage lambda vector. Restriction endonuclease digestion of total human DNA suggests that the common alpha subunit is coded for by a single gene. Three distinct polymorphic hybridization patterns have been observed for this gene in the human population. The cloned gene encompasses a total of 9.4 kilobases (kb) and contains three intervening sequences whose locations have been established by restriction enzyme mapping and by DNA sequencing. One of the intervening sequences is located in the 5' untranslated region, generating a leader sequence that is separated from the rest of the gene by 6.4 kb. The other two intervening sequences are 1.7 and 0.4 kb long and are located within codon number 6, and between codons 67 and 68, respectively. The location of the 5' end of the mature transcript has been established by priming placental mRNA with a restriction fragment obtained from the cloned cDNA. A transcript of similar size for the alpha subunit gene has been detected in both the pituitary, where the gene is expressed for the synthesis of LH, FSH, and TSH, and the placenta, where the gene is expressed for the synthesis of CG. When parts of the 5' untranslated nucleotide sequences of the alpha subunit and the human growth hormone genes are compared a highly homologous region is observed. These otherwise unrelated genes share the common feature that they encode a secreted pituitary polypeptide hormone.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1980

The cDNA for the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin suggests evolution of a gene by readthrough into the 3'-untranslated region.

A 579-base pair approximately full-length cDNA which codes for the 145-amino acid long beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) has been cloned in the plasmid vector pBR322 and its complete nucleotide sequence determined. A hydrophobic presequence of 20 amino acids can be identified from the nucleotide sequence. The amino acid sequence of the beta-subunit is known to be related to those of the beta-subunits of the other glycoprotein hormones LH, FSH and TSH, but the beta-subunit of HCG is unique in that it contains a C-terminal extension of about 30 amino acids which has no homologous counterpart in the other three hormones. Analysis of the beta HCG cDNA nucleotide sequence suggests that this extension may have arisen by the loss of the termination codon of an ancestral beta-like gene so that most of what was previously the 3'-untranslated region now codes for protein. The beta-subunit of HCG terminates with the codon UAA located 16 bases before the poly(A) in the sequence AAUAAA. This sequence is believed to be a recognition signal involved in either polyadenylation or processing and therefore has a dual role in this gene, serving both a coding and a regulatory function.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1979

Structure of genes for human growth hormone and chorionic somatomammotropin.

A 2.6-kilobase (kb) EcoRI restriction endonuclease fragment containing human growth hormone (hGH; somatotropin) gene sequences and a 2.8-kb EcoRI fragment containing human chorionic somatomammotropin (hCS; choriomammotropin) gene sequences have been identified by hybridization to cloned cDNA. Human DNA was cleaved with EcoRI and fractionated by preparative agarose gel electrophoresis; DNA in the size range 2--3 kb was ligated to lambda gt WES.lambda B DNA and viable recombinant bacteriophage were recovered by in vitro packaging. After infection of Escherichia coli and screening of phage plaques, single isolates of hGH and hCS gene sequences were obtained. Restriction endonuclease mapping showed that the hGH gene contains three intervening sequences interrupting the coding sequence. Partial DNA sequence analysis of the hGH gene, obtained by the chain termination method, confirmed the location of the intervening sequences and the identity of the fragment.

Amino Acid Sequence↗