A new type soluble guanylyl cyclase, which contains a kinase-like domain: its structure and expression.

A new type soluble guanylyl cyclase, designated as ksGC (kinase-like domain containing soluble guanylyl cyclase), was identified from a kidney cDNA library. By Northern blot analysis, expression of this novel guanylyl cyclase mRNA was found in lung, kidney and skeletal muscle. Although ksGC is a soluble type guanylyl cyclase, it is not a member of soluble alpha or beta guanylyl cyclases. The ksGC contains in its N-terminal region a protein kinase-like domain, which is usually a characteristic feature only of particulate type guanylyl cyclases. This unique feature of ksGC suggests a novel pathway of cGMP synthesis.