The avian vitamin D receptors: primary structures and their origins.

cDNA clones encoding Japanese quail chorioallantoic membrane and chicken kidney 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptors were isolated and the total 448-amino acid (aa) sequence was deduced. The sequences of the chicken and quail receptors are identical. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the avian receptors are similar but not identical to the reported rat or human receptor sequences. There is a 78% similarity in the nucleotide sequences and 98.5% and 87.5% similarities in the amino acid sequences of the DNA-binding and ligand-binding domains, respectively. Two avian receptor proteins (58 and 60 kDa) arise from a single mRNA transcript by alternate initiation of translation. The avian 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptors were produced using a bacterial expression system. Form A receptor was expressed from a cloned cDNA that contains the first translation signal (ATG) and corresponds with the 60-kDa avian receptor protein, and form B receptor was initiated from the third ATG on the same mRNA transcript to give rise to the 58-kDa protein. The cysteine-rich DNA-binding domain is almost conserved among human, rat, and avian receptors. The position of the nine cysteines was conserved in all three sequences. The avian receptor differs in the second zinc finger domain, where a methionine replaces a leucine, a serine replaces an asparagine, and a lysine replaces an arginine at aa 77, 83, and 87, respectively, of the avian sequence. The increased length of the avian receptor results from a 20-aa extension of the N-terminal region. RNA hybridization indicates there is a single mRNA species of approximately 2700 bp for both the chicken and quail receptors compared to 4400 bp for the rat transcript. Surprisingly, the translated avian sequence is larger (448 aa) than the 423-aa rat receptor protein. Therefore, our results confirm that despite the difference in molecular mass between different receptor proteins, there is a similarity in gene organization such that the DNA-binding and hormone-binding domains are positionally conserved from the C terminus.