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Title: Comparative analysis of the 5{prime} genomic and promoter regions between the mouse (Hdh) and human Huntington disease (HD) gene

Journal Article · · American Journal of Human Genetics
OSTI ID:133844
; ;  [1]
  1. Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada); and others

The mouse homologue of the Huntington disease gene (Hdh) has recently been cloned and mapped to a region of synteny with the human, on mouse chromosome 5. The two genes share a high degree of both coding (90% amino acid) and nucleotide (86.2%) identity. We have subsequently performed a detailed comparison of the genomic organization of the 5{prime} region of the two genes encompassing the promoter region and first five exons of both the human and mouse genes. The comparative sequence analysis of the promoter region between HD and Hdh reveals two highly conserved regions. One region (-56 to -118) (+1 is the ATG start codon), shared 84% nucleotide identity and another region (-130 to -206) had 81% nucleotide identity. Nine putative Sp1 sites appear in the human promoter region contrasted with only 3 in a similar region in the mouse. Furthermore, 17 and 20 base pair direct repeats present in the HD 5{prime} region are absent in the similar Hdh region. Although both the mouse and human intron/exon boundaries conform to the GT/AG rule, the intron sizes between HD and Hdh are markedly different. The first four introns in Hdh are 15, 7, 5 and 0.5 kb compared to sizes of 10, 15, 7 and 0.5 kb, respectively. Comparison between the mouse and human intronic sequences immediately adjacent to the first five exons (excluding exon 1) reveals only about 46 to 50% identity within the first 60 bp of intronic sequence. Furthermore, we have identified novel polymorphic di-, tri- and tetra-nucleotide repeats in Hdh introns of various mouse strains that are not present in the human. For example, polymorphic CT repeats are present in introns 2 and 4 of Hdh and a novel mouse 56 AAG trinucleotide repeat (interrupted by an AAGG) is also located within intron 2. This information concerning the promoter and genomic organization of both HD and Hdh is critical for designing appropriate gene targetting vectors for studying the normal function of the HD and Hdh genes in model systems.

OSTI ID:
133844
Report Number(s):
CONF-941009-; ISSN 0002-9297; TRN: 95:005313-0577
Journal Information:
American Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 55, Issue Suppl.3; Conference: 44. annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, Montreal (Canada), 18-22 Oct 1994; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English