Rat hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase cDNA cloning and sequence analysis.

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the rat hprt (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase; EC 2.4.2.8.) mRNA coding region and of adjacent, untranslated 5' and 3' mRNA, and we have designed an oligonucleotide primer pair for efficient PCR amplification of the rat hprt coding region. These sequence data and rat-specific primer pair will aid workers interested in coupling well-developed rat toxicologic and carcinogenicity bioassays with quantitative and molecular analyses of somatic mutation induction in rat cells in vivo and in vitro.