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The cardiac troponin T alternative exon contains a novel purine-rich positive splicing element.

We have characterized a novel positive-acting splicing element within the developmentally regulated alternative exon (exon 5) of the cardiac troponin T (cTNT) gene. The exon splicing element (ESE) is internal to the exon portions of the splice sites and is required for splicing to the 3' splice site but not the 5' splice site flanking the exon. Sequence comparisons between cTNT exon 5 and other exons that contain regions required for splicing reveal a common purine-rich motif. Sequence within cTNT exon 5 or a synthetic purine-rich motif facilitates splicing of heterologous alternative and constitutive splice sites in vivo. Interestingly, the ESE is not required for the preferential inclusion of cTNT exon 5 observed in primary skeletal muscle cultures. Our results strongly suggest that the purine-rich ESE serves as a general splicing element that is recognized by the constitutive splicing machinery.

Alternative Splicing↗

Multiple interdependent sequence elements control splicing of a fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 alternative exon.

The fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 gene contains a pair of mutually exclusive alternative exons, one of which (K-SAM) is spliced specifically in epithelial cells. We have described previously (F. Del Gatto and R. Breathnach, Mol. Cell. Biol. 15:4825-4834, 1995) some elements controlling K-SAM exon splicing, namely weak exon splice sites, an exon-repressing sequence, and an intron-activating sequence. We identify here two additional sequences in the intron downstream from the K-SAM exon which activate splicing of the exon. The first sequence (intron-activating sequence 2 [IAS2]) lies 168 to 186 nucleotides downstream from the exon's 5' splice site. The second sequence (intron-activating sequence 3 [IAS3]) lies 933 to 1,052 nucleotides downstream from the exon's 5' splice site. IAS3 is a complex region composed of several parts, one of which (nucleotides 963 to 983) can potentially form an RNA secondary structure with IAS2. This structure is composed of two stems separated by an asymmetric bulge. Mutations which disrupt either stem decrease activation, while compensatory mutations which reestablish the stem restore activation, either completely or partially, depending on the mutation. We present a model for K-SAM exon splicing involving the intervention of multiple, interdependent pre-mRNA sequence elements.

Alternative Splicing↗

Roles for SR proteins and hnRNP A1 in the regulation of c-src exon N1.

The splicing of the c-src exon N1 is controlled by an intricate combination of positive and negative RNA elements. Most previous work on these sequences focused on intronic elements found upstream and downstream of exon N1. However, it was demonstrated that the 5' half of the N1 exon itself acts as a splicing enhancer in vivo. Here we examine the function of this regulatory element in vitro. We show that a mutation in this sequence decreases splicing of the N1 exon in vitro. Proteins binding to this element were identified as hnRNP A1, hnRNP H, hnRNP F, and SF2/ASF by site-specific cross-linking and immunoprecipitation. The binding of these proteins to the RNA was eliminated by a mutation in the exonic element. The activities of hnRNP A1 and SF2/ASF on N1 splicing were examined by adding purified protein to in vitro splicing reactions. SF2/ASF and another SR protein, SC35, are both able to stimulate splicing of c-src pre-mRNA. However, splicing activation by SF2/ASF is dependent on the N1 exon enhancer element whereas activation by SC35 is not. In contrast to SF2/ASF and in agreement with other systems, hnRNP A1 repressed c-src splicing in vitro. The negative activity of hnRNP A1 on splicing was compared with that of PTB, a protein previously demonstrated to repress splicing in this system. Both proteins repress exon N1 splicing, and both counteract the enhancing activity of the SR proteins. Removal of the PTB binding sites upstream of N1 prevents PTB-mediated repression but does not affect A1-mediated repression. Thus, hnRNP A1 and PTB use different mechanisms to repress c-src splicing. Our results link the activity of these well-known exonic splicing regulators, SF2/ASF and hnRNP A1, to the splicing of an exon primarily controlled by intronic factors.

Animals↗

Polymorphisms in XPD exons 10 and 23 and bladder cancer risk.

INTRODUCTION: The nucleotide excision repair gene, xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group D (XPD), has been hypothesized to have a role in cancer risk, but results from prior molecular epidemiologic studies and genotype-phenotype analyses are conflicting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined the frequency of the XPD Asp312Asn polymorphism in exon 10 and the XPD Lys751Gln polymorphism in exon 23 in 505 incident bladder cancer cases and 486 healthy controls. RESULTS: Overall, the XPD exon 10 and 23 genotypes were not associated with bladder cancer risk, after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, and smoking status. A gender-specific role was evident that showed an increased risk for women, but not for men, associated with the variant genotypes for both exons. For example, when the exon 23 variant allele genotypes were combined (Lys/Gln + Gln/Gln), there was an increased bladder cancer risk in women [odds ratio (OR), 1.69; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.12-2.58] but not in men (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.79-1.24; P(interaction) = 0.041; OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.02-2.58). There was also a gene-smoking interaction that showed the variant alleles for either exon or the combination of both increase the risk of bladder cancer for light and heavy smokers. For exon 23 (P(interaction) = 0.057; OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.99-1.47), heavy smokers (> or = 20 pack-years) who carried the exon 23 variant allele genotypes had an OR of 4.13 (95% CI, 2.53-6.73), whereas heavy smokers with the wild-type genotypes were at lower risk (OR, 3.55; 95% CI, 2.19-5.75). Moderate smokers (1-19 pack-years) with the variant allele genotypes had an OR of 1.54 (95% CI, 0.94-2.53), whereas moderate smokers with the wild-type genotypes had an OR of 1.12 (95% CI, 0.63-1.98). CONCLUSIONS: Although we did not observe main effects associated with the XPD genotypes, these results do suggest the variant allele genotypes were associated with increased bladder cancer risk in women and smokers with statistically significant interactions in the exon 23 polymorphism. Although there is biological plausibility, these novel findings for gender and smoking should be interpreted with caution upon confirmation in larger studies.

Case-Control Studies↗

Human metalloprotease/disintegrin-like (MDC) gene: exon-intron organization and alternative splicing.

A recently identified gene encoding a metalloprotease-like, disintegrin-like, cysteine-rich protein (MDC) represents a candidate tumor suppressor gene for human breast cancer based on its location within a minimal region of chromosome 17q21 previously defined by tumor deletion mapping. The work reported here has shown that the MDC gene consists of 28 exons interrupted by relatively short introns, most of them 67 bp to 5 kb in length. We have identified two forms of transcripts generated by alternative splicing. The more abundant form encodes a protein of 769 amino acids; the other, a previously described cDNA, encodes 524 amino acids. Exons 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 2-7 encode a proprotein domain; exons 7-13, a metalloprotease-like domain; exons 14-17, a disintegrin domain; exons 18-22, a cysteine-rich domain, including an epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeat domain within exons 21 and 22; exon 23, a transmembrane domain; and exons 24 and 25, a short cytoplasmic domain. These results show that human MDC contains a mosaic of exons capable of encoding several functional domains.

ADAM Proteins↗

Expression of alternatively spliced RNA transcripts of amelogenin gene exons 8 and 9 and its end products in the rat incisor.

In addition to seven known exons of the amelogenin gene, recent studies have identified two exons downstream of amelogenin exon 7 in genomic DNA of mouse and rat. Here the spatial and temporal expression of mRNAs and of the translated proteins derived from alternative splicing of the amelogenin gene ending with exon 8 and exon 9 were examined by in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). RNA signals for exons 8 and 9 were expressed in the ameloblast layer extending from early presecretory to postsecretory transitional stages of amelogenesis. IHC of amelogenin proteins that include sequences encoded by these exons demonstrated identical localization of these proteins in the ameloblast layer corresponding to RNA signals identified by ISH. There was intense immunostaining of the enamel matrix secreted by these cells. Western blotting analysis of rat enamel proteins revealed three distinct protein bands with sequences encoded by the new exons. These data confirmed the existence of the transcripts of alternatively spliced mRNAs coding for exons 8 and 9 of the amelogenin gene in rat tooth germs and suggest that the translated proteins contribute to the heterogeneity of amelogenins and have some significant roles in enamel formation and mineralization.

Alternative Splicing↗

Tracking the evolution of alternatively spliced exons within the Dscam family.

BACKGROUND: The Dscam gene in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, contains twenty-four exons, four of which are composed of tandem arrays that each undergo mutually exclusive alternative splicing (4, 6, 9 and 17), potentially generating 38,016 protein isoforms. This degree of transcript diversity has not been found in mammalian homologs of Dscam. We examined the molecular evolution of exons within this gene family to locate the point of divergence for this alternative splicing pattern. RESULTS: Using the fruit fly Dscam exons 4, 6, 9 and 17 as seed sequences, we iteratively searched sixteen genomes for homologs, and then performed phylogenetic analyses of the resulting sequences to examine their evolutionary history. We found homologs in the nematode, arthropod and vertebrate genomes, including homologs in several vertebrates where Dscam had not been previously annotated. Among these, only the arthropods contain homologs arranged in tandem arrays indicative of mutually exclusive splicing. We found no homologs to these exons within the Arabidopsis, yeast, tunicate or sea urchin genomes but homologs to several constitutive exons from fly Dscam were present within tunicate and sea urchin. Comparing the rate of turnover within the tandem arrays of the insect taxa (fruit fly, mosquito and honeybee), we found the variants within exons 4 and 17 are well conserved in number and spatial arrangement despite 248-283 million years of divergence. In contrast, the variants within exons 6 and 9 have undergone considerable turnover since these taxa diverged, as indicated by deeply branching taxon-specific lineages. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that at least one Dscam exon array may be an ancient duplication that predates the divergence of deuterostomes from protostomes but that there is no evidence for the presence of arrays in the common ancestor of vertebrates. The different patterns of conservation and turnover among the Dscam exon arrays provide a striking example of how a gene can evolve in a modular fashion rather than as a single unit.

Alternative Splicing↗

Assembly of splicing complexes on exon 11 of the human insulin receptor gene does not correlate with splicing efficiency in-vitro.

BACKGROUND: Incorporation of exon 11 of the insulin receptor gene is both developmentally and hormonally-regulated. Previously, we have shown the presence of enhancer and silencer elements that modulate the incorporation of the small 36-nucleotide exon. In this study, we investigated the role of inherent splice site strength in the alternative splicing decision and whether recognition of the splice sites is the major determinant of exon incorporation. RESULTS: We found that mutation of the flanking sub-optimal splice sites to consensus sequences caused the exon to be constitutively spliced in-vivo. These findings are consistent with the exon-definition model for splicing. In-vitro splicing of RNA templates containing exon 11 and portions of the upstream intron recapitulated the regulation seen in-vivo. Unexpectedly, we found that the splice sites are occupied and spliceosomal complex A was assembled on all templates in-vitro irrespective of splicing efficiency. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that the exon-definition model explains alternative splicing of exon 11 in the IR gene in-vivo but not in-vitro. The in-vitro results suggest that the regulation occurs at a later step in spliceosome assembly on this exon.

Alternative Splicing↗

A class of human exons with predicted distant branch points revealed by analysis of AG dinucleotide exclusion zones.

BACKGROUND: The three consensus elements at the 3' end of human introns--the branch point sequence, the polypyrimidine tract, and the 3' splice site AG dinucleotide--are usually closely spaced within the final 40 nucleotides of the intron. However, the branch point sequence and polypyrimidine tract of a few known alternatively spliced exons lie up to 400 nucleotides upstream of the 3' splice site. The extended regions between the distant branch points (dBPs) and their 3' splice site are marked by the absence of other AG dinucleotides. In many cases alternative splicing regulatory elements are located within this region. RESULTS: We have applied a simple algorithm, based on AG dinucleotide exclusion zones (AGEZ), to a large data set of verified human exons. We found a substantial number of exons with large AGEZs, which represent candidate dBP exons. We verified the importance of the predicted dBPs for splicing of some of these exons. This group of exons exhibits a higher than average prevalence of observed alternative splicing, and many of the exons are in genes with some human disease association. CONCLUSION: The group of identified probable dBP exons are interesting first because they are likely to be alternatively spliced. Second, they are expected to be vulnerable to mutations within the entire extended AGEZ. Disruption of splicing of such exons, for example by mutations that lead to insertion of a new AG dinucleotide between the dBP and 3' splice site, could be readily understood even though the causative mutation might be remote from the conventional locations of splice site sequences.

Alternative Splicing↗

Molecular cloning of cytochrome P450 aromatase complementary deoxyribonucleic acid from periimplantation porcine and equine blastocysts identifies multiple novel 5'-untranslated exons expressed in embryos, endometrium, and placenta.

To facilitate studies on the molecular mechanisms involved in the unique temporal expression of the P450 aromatase gene in porcine periimplantation embryos, a complementary DNA (cDNA) library was prepared from day 12 porcine embryo messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and screened with a cDNA fragment encoding the amino-terminus of human aromatase. Two size variants of nearly full-length cDNA clones (designated clones 33F and 34B; 2470 and 2588 bp, respectively) were isolated and sequenced. Clones 33F and 34B encoded identical aromatase proteins of 503 amino acids, but differed in size due to alternative polyadenylation signal usage for the corresponding mRNAs. Using the 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends procedure, two classes of cDNA clones that contained distinct putative exon 1 sequences (E1A and E1B, respectively), but were otherwise identical in exon 2 and 3 sequences, were isolated. The E1A DNA sequence was identical to the 5'-end specified by clones 33F and 34B, except for an additional 23 nucleotides. The E1A and E1B exons showed no significant homology with each other or with the aromatase cDNA sequences from other species, including human. Expression of E1A-containing aromatase mRNA was higher than that of E1B in day 12 blastocysts, although both mRNAs were expressed at low levels in porcine endometrium and placenta of early pregnancy and in ovary at periestrus. To determine whether the E1A or E1B sequence was common to aromatase mRNAs in other steroidogenic preimplantation embryos, aromatase cDNA clones spanning exons 1-3 were isolated from equine embryos by a combination of RT-PCR and 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Equine embryonic exon 1 cDNA sequence had no homology with corresponding regions in aromatase transcripts of pigs or other species; in contrast, exon 2 and 3 cDNA sequences predicted an amino acid sequence with significant homology to aromatase. Results from the present study demonstrate alternative splicing of a novel first exon(s) in P450 aromatase gene transcripts in porcine preimplantation embryos and in endometrium and placenta of pregnancy. The lack of homology among equine, porcine, human, and bovine aromatase 5'-untranslated exons may indicate divergence in the corresponding regulatory motifs of these regions among mammalian species. These observations suggest the potential significance of activation of the E1A promoter and/or splicing of novel aromatase 5'-exons in the transient production of estrogens by periimplantation blastocysts.

Alternative Splicing↗

Two putative GATA motifs in the proximal exon 1 promoter of the rat insulin-like growth factor I gene regulate basal promoter activity.

The insulin-like growth factor I gene is transcribed from two promoters, which direct synthesis of alternative first exons (exon 1 and exon 2) in insulin-like growth factor I messenger RNAs (mRNAs). An exon 1 promoter construct extending from +75 to +192 (the most upstream exon 1 start site was designated as +1) showed significant promoter activity in C6, OVCAR-3, and SK-N-MC cells. Within the +75 to +192 region, there are two perfect matches to the consensus binding site for GATA transcription factor, at +108 (GATA-A) and at +183 (GATA-B). Mutations of the GATA-A or GATA-B sequences resulted in slight (or no) effect on exon 1 promoter activity in both C6 and OVCAR-3 cells. However, mutation of the GATA-A sequence stimulated exon 1 promoter activity by 68% in SK-N-MC cells. Mutation of the GATA-B sequence inhibited exon 1 promoter activity by 4.4-fold in SK-N-MC cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that there were nuclear proteins in SK-N-MC cells capable of specifically binding to the GATA-A and GATA-B elements and that this binding was GATA-sequence specific. GATA-2, GATA-3, and GATA-4 are the only GATA proteins that have been reported to be expressed in neurons. None of the antibodies against these three GATA proteins were capable of inhibiting or supershifting the bands formed by the nuclear proteins and oligonucleotides containing GATA-A or GATA-B elements. A GATA-1 expression vector was used to perform cotransfection experiments. The GATA-A mutation abolished the stimulatory effect of the GATA-1 factor on promoter activity. In contrast, the GATA-B mutation enhanced the stimulatory effect of GATA-1 protein. Anti-GATA-1 antibody was also incapable of inhibiting or supershifting the bands formed by the nuclear proteins and oligonucleotides containing the GATA-A or GATA-B elements. In conclusion, the GATA-A element seems to bind an inhibitory endogenous factor(s) in SK-N-MC cells, whereas the GATA-B element may bind a stimulatory factor(s). These factors seem to be related to GATA transcription factors but are immunologically distinct from GATA-2, GATA-3, or GATA-4. GATA-1 has the potential to transactivate the exon 1 promoter through the GATA-A element but is unlikely to be the endogenous protein binding to the GATA-A or the GATA-B motifs in SK-N-MC cells.

Animals↗

Somatic mutations of the ret protooncogene in sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma are not restricted to exon 16 and are associated with tumor recurrence.

Germline point mutations in exons 10, 11, and 16 of the ret protooncogene have been identified as causative in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 and in familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). Somatic point mutations of the same gene, exclusively associated with codon 918 of exon 16, have also been reported in few cases of sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma. We analyzed the blood and tumor DNA of 19 patients with sporadic MTC and 6 patients with primary parathyroid adenoma for point mutations at exons 10, 11, and 16 of the ret protooncogene by restriction analysis of the PCR-amplified product and by sequence analysis of exons 10 and 11. A Cys634-->Tyr mutation was found in both the tumoral and blood DNA of one patient, indicating that he was affected by an hereditary form of MTC, erroneously considered sporadic. In the other 18 patients with MTC, somatic point mutations of ret were found in 8 cases (44.4%). In 5 cases the mutation affected exon 16 (Met918-->Thr), and in 3 cases it affected exon 11 (Cys634-->Arg in 1 and Cys634-->Trp in 2); these 3 mutations were confirmed by sequence analysis. The remaining 10 patients had no mutation in exon 10 by either restriction analysis or sequence analysis. Clinical data showed that 75% of the patients whose tumor carried ret mutation had tumor recurrence and/or increased serum calcitonin concentrations during the postsurgical follow-up period as opposed to 10% of the patients without mutations (P < 0.02, by chi2 analysis). No ret mutation was found in the tumoral DNA from parathyroid adenomas. Our findings indicate that the somatic ret point mutation frequently found in sporadic MTC may affect not only exon 16 but also exon 11 and is associated with less favorable clinical outcome.

Adult↗

Probe selection and expression index computation of Affymetrix Exon Arrays.

BACKGROUND: There is great current interest in developing microarray platforms for measuring mRNA abundance at both gene level and exon level. The Affymetrix Exon Array is a new high-density gene expression microarray platform, with over six million probes targeting all annotated and predicted exons in a genome. An important question for the analysis of exon array data is how to compute overall gene expression indexes. Because of the complexity of the design of exon array probes, this problem is different in nature from summarizing gene-level expression from traditional 3' expression arrays. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this manuscript, we use exon array data from 11 human tissues to study methods for computing gene-level expression. We showed that for most genes there is a subset of exon array probes having highly correlated intensities across multiple samples. We suggest that these probes could be used as reliable indicators of overall gene expression levels. We developed a probe selection algorithm to select such a subset of highly correlated probes for each gene, and computed gene expression indexes using the selected probes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that probe selection improves gene expression estimates from exon arrays. The selected probes can be used in future analyses of other exon array datasets to compute gene expression indexes.

Algorithms↗

Alternate promoter and 5'-untranslated exon usage of the mouse adrenocorticotropin receptor gene in adipose tissue.

Mouse adrenocorticotropin receptor (ACTH-R/MC2R) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is expressed predominantly in the adrenal gland and, to a lesser extent, in adipose tissue. In this study, we found a novel 135-bp exon 1 (exon 1f) of the ACTH-R gene transcribed in mouse adipose tissue by RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends, which was located 1.4 kb downstream in the genome of previously-reported exon 1 (exon 1a) transcribed in the adrenal gland. The novel promoter region, 1.4 kb upstream of exon 1f contained three CCAAT boxes. RT-PCR analysis revealed that ACTH-R mRNA from adipose tissue and differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes exclusively contained exon 1f. Thus, the promoter region flanking to exon 1f is thought to be essential for adipose tissue, while that flanking to exon 1a is specific for the adrenal gland. A search for a similar sequence of mouse ACTH-R exon 1f and its flanking region in the human genome sequence database of GenBank Human Genome Resources did not reveal such a sequence in the region of the human ACTH-R gene. This may explain the absence of ACTH-R expression in human adipose tissue.

5' Untranslated Regions↗

Evolutionary divergence of exon flanks: a dissection of mutability and selection.

The intronic sequences flanking exon-intron junctions (i.e., exon flanks) are important for splice site recognition and pre-mRNA splicing. Recent studies show a higher degree of sequence conservation at flanks of alternative exons, compared to flanks of constitutive exons. In this article we performed a detailed analysis on the evolutionary divergence of exon flanks between human and chimpanzee, aiming to dissect the impact of mutability and selection on their evolution. Inside exon flanks, sites that might reside in ancestral CpG dinucleotides evolved significantly faster than sites outside of ancestral CpG dinucleotides. This result reflects a systematic variation of mutation rates (mutability) at exon flanks, depending on the local CpG contexts. Remarkably, we observed a significant reduction of the nucleotide substitution rate in flanks of alternatively spliced exons, independent of the site-by-site variation in mutability due to different CpG contexts. Our data provide concrete evidence for increased purifying selection at exon flanks associated with regulation of alternative splicing.

Alternative Splicing↗

Normal isotype switching in B cells lacking the I mu exon splice donor site: evidence for multiple I mu-like germline transcripts.

Ig class switch recombination (CSR) in activated B cells is preceded by the generation of "switch" transcripts from the heavy chain constant region (CH) genes targeted for rearrangement. Switch transcripts include a sterile "I" exon spliced onto the first CH exon. Targeted mutations disrupting the expression or splicing of I exons severely hamper CSR to all tested CH loci, except mu. However, all mu switch transcript mutations tested so far have left the I mu exon splice donor site intact. To test the possibility that the residual CSR activity in I mu mutants could be due to splicing of a truncated I mu exon, we generated new mutants specifically lacking the I mu splice donor site. Surprisingly, normal CSR was observed in the I mu splice donor mutants even in the absence of detectable spliced I mu transcripts. In a search for potential alternative sources of switch-like transcripts in the mu locus, we identified two novel exons which map just upstream of the Smu region and splice onto the C mu 1 exon. Their expression is detectable from early B cell developmental stages, and, at least in hybridomas, it does not require the Emu enhancer. These studies highlight a unique structure for the mu locus I exon region, with multiple nested switch transcript-like exons mapping upstream of Smu. We propose that all of these transcripts directly contribute to mu class switching activity.

Animals↗

[Experimental studies on exons 5-8 of p53 gene mutation in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma].

This study was designed to detect the point mutations of exons 5-8 of p53 gene in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and analyze their relationship. The detection of fresh tumor samples from LSCC patients was performed using silver staining PCR-SSCP method. From among 60 patients samples, 47 were positive in SSCP. Mutation rate was 78.3% (47/60). The results showed that the prevalence of p53 mutations in LSCC subjected to silver staining PCR-SSCP test were 50% (30/60) in exon 5, 11.67%(7/60) in exon 6, 41.6%(25/60) in exon 7, and 25%(15/60) in exon 8. The majority of the mutations were found in exon 5 and exon 7. Exon 5 and exon 7 of p53 gene may be the mutation hotspot in LSCC; they may be the critical position easily attacked by some carcinogen factors relating to LSCC.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗

CD45 alternative exon expression in murine and human CD4+ T cell subsets.

Leukocytes express a family of high m.w. glycoproteins called leukocyte common Ag (CD45), which are involved in phosphotyrosine signal transduction. Antibodies to different CD45 isoforms distinguish functionally different CD4+ T cell subsets in humans, rats, and mice. Selected protein isoforms are expressed through a process of exon splicing that is cell-type and differentiation-state specific. Splicing of the three variable exons, A, B, and C, which encode amino acids located near the extracellular amino terminus of the protein, potentially results in generation of eight different mRNA transcripts. The purpose of the present study was to determine the relative levels of all eight different CD45 transcripts present in a panel of murine CD4+ T cell lines and normal murine and human CD4+ T cell subsets separated with antibodies to CD45 variable exons. We show, as expected, that the broad features of CD45 surface isoform expression in these cells can be accounted for by the relative amounts of the eight differentially spliced transcripts. Unexpectedly, all the differences in CD45 isoform expression among the CD4+ T cell subpopulations that we measured could be accounted for by differences in the overall level of variable exon expression. We did not see differences among T cell populations in the relative expression of particular variable exons. Exon B was always found in greater abundance than exons C or A. Of the dual exon species, only AB and BC were found in CD4+ T cells. The AC species was undetectable. Human CD4+ T cells, especially those in the naive subset, express higher levels of CD45 variable exons than murine CD4+ T cells.

Animals↗