Katoh Masaru
Genetics and Cell Biology Section, Genetics Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
Int J Mol Med. 2002 Mar;9(3):221-7.
Glycoprotein WNTs play key roles in carcinogenesis and embryogenesis. Human WNT14 and WNT3A genes are clustered in human chromosome 1q42 region with an interval of about 58 kb. Here, mouse Wnt14 was isolated to compare the structure of human WNT14-WNT3A gene cluster with that of mouse Wnt14-Wnt3a gene cluster. Mouse Wnt14 showed 98.1% total-amino-acid identity with human WNT14, and 61.9% total-amino-acid identity with human WNT14B/WNT15. Mouse Wnt14 mRNA was expressed in adult brain, lung, skeletal muscle, heart, and 17-day embryo. Mouse Wnt14 and Wnt3a genes were clustered in head-to-head manner with an interval of about 16 kb. Exon-intron structures were well conserved between human WNT14-WNT3A gene cluster and mouse Wnt14-Wnt3a gene cluster. Capicua-related sequence and AK024248-related sequence were identified in the intergenic region of human Wnt14-Wnt3a gene cluster as well as in other human chromosomal loci, but not in that of mouse Wnt14-Wnt3a gene cluster. Capicua-related sequences were pseudogenes derived from Capicua gene on human chromosome 19q13. Capicua pseudogene and AK024248-related sequence were clustered in tail-to-tail manner with interval ranging from 2.2 to 11.0 kb. AK024248-related sequences in several human genome draft sequences were truncated in the 3'-portion compared with that in the intergenic region of human WNT14-WNT3A gene cluster. This is the first report on structural comparison of WNT gene clusters in human genome and in mouse genome.
糖蛋白WNTs在致癌作用和胚胎发育过程中发挥关键作用。人类WNT14和WNT3A基因聚集在人类染色体1q42区域，间隔约58 kb。在此，分离出小鼠Wnt14以比较人类WNT14 - WNT3A基因簇与小鼠Wnt14 - Wnt3a基因簇的结构。小鼠Wnt14与人类WNT14的总氨基酸同一性为98.1%，与人类WNT14B/WNT15的总氨基酸同一性为61.9%。小鼠Wnt14 mRNA在成年脑、肺、骨骼肌、心脏和17天胚胎中表达。小鼠Wnt14和Wnt3a基因以头对头的方式聚集，间隔约16 kb。人类WNT14 - WNT3A基因簇与小鼠Wnt14 - Wnt3a基因簇之间的外显子 - 内含子结构高度保守。在人类Wnt14 - Wnt3a基因簇的基因间区域以及其他人类染色体位点中鉴定出了与Capicua相关的序列和与AK024248相关的序列，但在小鼠Wnt14 - Wnt3a基因簇中未鉴定出。与Capicua相关的序列是源自人类染色体19q13上Capicua基因的假基因。Capicua假基因和与AK024248相关的序列以尾对尾的方式聚集，间隔范围为2.2至11.0 kb。与人类WNT14 - WNT3A基因簇的基因间区域相比，几条人类基因组草图序列中的与AK024248相关的序列在3'部分被截断。这是关于人类基因组和小鼠基因组中WNT基因簇结构比较的首次报告。
