Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1985 Mar;82(6):1609–1613. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.6.1609

Complete sequence of a gene encoding a human type I keratin: sequences homologous to enhancer elements in the regulatory region of the gene.

D Marchuk, S McCrohon, E Fuchs
PMCID: PMC397321  PMID: 2580298

Abstract

We report here the complete nucleotide sequence of a gene encoding the 50-kDa keratin expressed in abundance in human epidermal cells. According to its sequence, this gene has a single transcriptional initiation site and a single polyadenylylation signal. Nuclease S1 mapping of this gene with total human epidermal mRNA confirmed the presence of a single initiation site for the 50-kDa keratin gene. When the regulatory sequences 5' upstream from this gene were examined, three sequences that share significant homology with viral and immunoglobulin enhancer elements were found. In comparison, the sequence of the regulatory region of vimentin, a structurally similar intermediate filament gene, was highly divergent [Quax, W., Egberts, W. V., Hendriks, W., Quax-Jeuken, Y. & Bloemendal, H. (1983) Cell 35, 215-223]. This finding may provide a clue to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the widely varying levels of expression of different intermediate filament genes in different tissues.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

1612Image
on p.1612

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson S. Shotgun DNA sequencing using cloned DNase I-generated fragments. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Jul 10;9(13):3015–3027. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.13.3015. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baralle F. E., Brownlee G. G. AUG is the only recognisable signal sequence in the 5' non-coding regions of eukaryotic mRNA. Nature. 1978 Jul 6;274(5666):84–87. doi: 10.1038/274084a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berk A. J., Sharp P. A. Sizing and mapping of early adenovirus mRNAs by gel electrophoresis of S1 endonuclease-digested hybrids. Cell. 1977 Nov;12(3):721–732. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90272-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Breathnach R., Chambon P. Organization and expression of eucaryotic split genes coding for proteins. Annu Rev Biochem. 1981;50:349–383. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.50.070181.002025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Capetanaki Y. G., Ngai J., Flytzanis C. N., Lazarides E. Tissue-specific expression of two mRNA species transcribed from a single vimentin gene. Cell. 1983 Dec;35(2 Pt 1):411–420. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90174-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dowling L. M., Parry D. A., Sparrow L. G. Structural homology between hard alpha-keratin and the intermediate filament proteins desmin and vimentin. Biosci Rep. 1983 Jan;3(1):73–78. doi: 10.1007/BF01121573. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Franke W. W., Schiller D. L., Hatzfeld M., Winter S. Protein complexes of intermediate-sized filaments: melting of cytokeratin complexes in urea reveals different polypeptide separation characteristics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Dec;80(23):7113–7117. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.23.7113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fuchs E. V., Coppock S. M., Green H., Cleveland D. W. Two distinct classes of keratin genes and their evolutionary significance. Cell. 1981 Nov;27(1 Pt 2):75–84. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90362-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fuchs E., Green H. Multiple keratins of cultured human epidermal cells are translated from different mRNA molecules. Cell. 1979 Jul;17(3):573–582. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90265-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gillies S. D., Morrison S. L., Oi V. T., Tonegawa S. A tissue-specific transcription enhancer element is located in the major intron of a rearranged immunoglobulin heavy chain gene. Cell. 1983 Jul;33(3):717–728. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90014-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hanukoglu I., Fuchs E. The cDNA sequence of a Type II cytoskeletal keratin reveals constant and variable structural domains among keratins. Cell. 1983 Jul;33(3):915–924. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90034-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hanukoglu I., Fuchs E. The cDNA sequence of a human epidermal keratin: divergence of sequence but conservation of structure among intermediate filament proteins. Cell. 1982 Nov;31(1):243–252. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90424-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jelinek W. R., Schmid C. W. Repetitive sequences in eukaryotic DNA and their expression. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:813–844. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.004121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jorcano J. L., Magin T. M., Franke W. W. Cell type-specific expression of bovine keratin genes as demonstrated by the use of complementary DNA clones. J Mol Biol. 1984 Jun 15;176(1):21–37. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(84)90380-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kim K. H., Rheinwald J. G., Fuchs E. V. Tissue specificity of epithelial keratins: differential expression of mRNAs from two multigene families. Mol Cell Biol. 1983 Apr;3(4):495–502. doi: 10.1128/mcb.3.4.495. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kozak M. Possible role of flanking nucleotides in recognition of the AUG initiator codon by eukaryotic ribosomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Oct 24;9(20):5233–5252. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.20.5233. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Laimins L. A., Khoury G., Gorman C., Howard B., Gruss P. Host-specific activation of transcription by tandem repeats from simian virus 40 and Moloney murine sarcoma virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Nov;79(21):6453–6457. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.21.6453. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lazarides E. Intermediate filaments: a chemically heterogeneous, developmentally regulated class of proteins. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:219–250. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.001251. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Magin T. M., Jorcano J. L., Franke W. W. Translational products of mRNAs coding for non-epidermal cytokeratins. EMBO J. 1983;2(8):1387–1392. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01596.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Marchuk D., McCrohon S., Fuchs E. Remarkable conservation of structure among intermediate filament genes. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(3 Pt 2):491–498. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90456-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Moll R., Franke W. W., Schiller D. L., Geiger B., Krepler R. The catalog of human cytokeratins: patterns of expression in normal epithelia, tumors and cultured cells. Cell. 1982 Nov;31(1):11–24. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90400-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Moreau P., Hen R., Wasylyk B., Everett R., Gaub M. P., Chambon P. The SV40 72 base repair repeat has a striking effect on gene expression both in SV40 and other chimeric recombinants. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Nov 25;9(22):6047–6068. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.22.6047. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Mount S. M. A catalogue of splice junction sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jan 22;10(2):459–472. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.2.459. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Nelson W. G., Sun T. T. The 50- and 58-kdalton keratin classes as molecular markers for stratified squamous epithelia: cell culture studies. J Cell Biol. 1983 Jul;97(1):244–251. doi: 10.1083/jcb.97.1.244. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Quax W., Egberts W. V., Hendriks W., Quax-Jeuken Y., Bloemendal H. The structure of the vimentin gene. Cell. 1983 Nov;35(1):215–223. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90224-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Roop D. R., Hawley-Nelson P., Cheng C. K., Yuspa S. H. Keratin gene expression in mouse epidermis and cultured epidermal cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Feb;80(3):716–720. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.3.716. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Sanger F., Coulson A. R., Barrell B. G., Smith A. J., Roe B. A. Cloning in single-stranded bacteriophage as an aid to rapid DNA sequencing. J Mol Biol. 1980 Oct 25;143(2):161–178. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(80)90196-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Schöler H. R., Gruss P. Specific interaction between enhancer-containing molecules and cellular components. Cell. 1984 Feb;36(2):403–411. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90233-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Steinert P. M., Idler W. W. The polypeptide composition of bovine epidermal alpha-keratin. Biochem J. 1975 Dec;151(3):603–614. doi: 10.1042/bj1510603. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Steinert P. M., Rice R. H., Roop D. R., Trus B. L., Steven A. C. Complete amino acid sequence of a mouse epidermal keratin subunit and implications for the structure of intermediate filaments. Nature. 1983 Apr 28;302(5911):794–800. doi: 10.1038/302794a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sun T. T., Green H. Keratin filaments of cultured human epidermal cells. Formation of intermolecular disulfide bonds during terminal differentiation. J Biol Chem. 1978 Mar 25;253(6):2053–2060. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Zehner Z. E., Paterson B. M. Characterization of the chicken vimentin gene: single copy gene producing multiple mRNAs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Feb;80(4):911–915. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.4.911. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES