Comparison of nonerythroid. cap alpha. -spectrin genes reveals strict homology among diverse species

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Mol. Cell. Biol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1128/MCB.8.1.1· OSTI ID:6925522

Leto, T L; Fortugno-Erikson, D; Barton, D; Yang-Feng, T L; Franke, U; Harris, A S; Morrow, J S; Marchesi, V T; Benz, Jr, E J

The spectrins are a family of widely distributed filamentous proteins. In association with actin, spectrins form a supporting and organizing scaffold for cell membranes. Using antibodies specific for human brain ..cap alpha..-spectrin (..cap alpha..-fodrin), the authors cloned a rat brain ..cap alpha..-spectrin cDNA from an expression library. Several closely related human clones were also isolated by hybridization. Comparison of sequences of these and other overlapping nonerythroid and erythroid ..cap alpha..-spectrin genes demonstrated that the nonerythroid genes are strictly conserved across species, while the mammalian erythroid genes have diverged rapidly. Peptide sequences deduced from these cDNAs revealed that the nonerythroid ..cap alpha..-spectrin chain, like the erythroid spectrin, is composed of multiple 106-amino-acid repeating units, with the characteristic invariant tryptophan as well as other charged and hydrophobic residues in conserved locations. However, the carboxy-terminal sequence varies markedly from this internal repeat pattern and may represent a specialized functional site. The nonerythroid ..cap alpha..-spectrin gene was mapped to human chromosome 9, in contrast to the erythroid ..cap alpha..-spectrin gene, which has previously been assigned to a locus on chromosome 1.

• Research Organization: Section of Bacterial Infectious Disease, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD (US)
• OSTI ID: 6925522
• Journal Information: Mol. Cell. Biol.; (United States), Vol. 8:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ACTIN
DNA SEQUENCING
DNA-CLONING
NERVE CELLS
ANTIBODIES
BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
CELL MEMBRANES
GENETIC MAPPING
MAN
SPECIES DIVERSITY
STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
CELL CONSTITUENTS
CLONING
FUNCTIONS
MAMMALS
MAPPING
MEMBRANES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PRIMATES
PROTEINS
SOMATIC CELLS
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
VERTEBRATES
550200* - Biochemistry
550300 - Cytology