Akira T, Komatsu M, Nango R, Tomooka A, Konaka K, Yamauchi M, Kitamura Y, Nomura S, Tsukamoto I
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Nara Women's University, Japan.
Gene. 1997 Sep 15;197(1-2):289-93. doi: 10.1016/s0378-1119(97)00273-4.
The cDNA of a 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase/IMP cyclohydrolase (AICARFT/IMPCHase) was isolated from rat liver RNA by reverse transcription and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The rat AICARFT/IMPCHase cDNA included 1928 bp containing a coding region of 1779 bp for a 592-amino acid polypeptide (Mr = 64 200). Rat and human AICARFT/IMPCHase cDNAs show 84 and 91% homology at the nucleotide and amino acid sequence level, respectively. The protein produced by the rat cDNA using pET-expression system catalysed the penultimate and final steps of de novo purine biosynthesis. Northern analysis identified a 2.8-kb AICARFT/IMPCHase mRNA and the level of the AICARFT/IMPCHase transcripts increased markedly at 24 h after partial (70%) hepatectomy.
