Identification of a splice variant of the rat and human mineralocorticoid receptor genes.

The sequence of a splice variant of the rat mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) gene is presented. A cDNA clone corresponding to rat MR was isolated from a rat brain cDNA library. Sequence analysis of the region corresponding to the DNA binding domain revealed the presence of a 12 base pair (bp) insertion. Analysis of mRNA from several rat tissues suggests that the variant is less abundant than the wild type in most tissues. The insertion variant is also a product of the human MR gene, the identical splice variant was also observed in human white blood cell mRNA. Unlike other splice variants reported for the MR, this variant alters the encoded protein by the addition of four amino acid residues in the DNA binding domain. The altered protein may influence the affinity of the MR for mineralocorticoid or glucocorticoid response elements.