Glycobiology vol 2 no 4 pp. 361-368, 1992
© 1992
research-article |
Murine ß1,4-galactosyltransferase: round spermatid transcripts are characterized by an extended 5'-untranslated region
1Cell Structure and Function Laboratory, Oncology Center, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
2Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
3To whom correspondence should be addressed
Received on April 4, 1992; accepted on April 9, 1992
We have previously shown that the expression of the gene encoding murine ß1,4-galactosyltransferase (ß1,4-GT, UDP-galactose:N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-glycopeptide4-ß-D galactosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.38 [EC] ) is fundamentally different between somatic and male germ cells (Shaper et al., 1990b). In somatic cells, two transcripts of 3.9 kb and 4.1 kb are produced. In contrast, in spermatogonia only the 4.1 kb transcript is expressed. Maturation of spermatogonia to pachytene spermatocytes is accompanied by reduced expression of the 4.1 kb transcript to barely detectable levels. Continued differentiation to haploid round spermatids is coincident with renewed expression in which the 4.1 kb transcript is replaced by two truncated transcripts of 2.9 and 3.1 kb. in this study, we report the characterization of a full-length ß1,4-GT cDNA clone from a murine round spermatid library that corresponds to the 2.9 kb transcript. This transcript encodes the same open reading frame as the 4.1 kb transcript, but utilizes alternative poly(A) signals embedded within the long 3'-untranslated region of the somatic transcript. Based on sequence analysis, together with primer extension and S1 nuclease protection experiments, both the 2.9 and the 3.1 kb round spermatid ß1,4-GT transcripts are distinguished by the presence of an additional 5'-untranslated sequence of {small tilde}560 bp that is absent in premeiotic germ cells and somatic cells. To understand how a single gene locus can give rise to this haploid male germ cell-specific transcript, we have isolated murine genomic clones and determined that this additional sequence is immediately upstream and contiguous with the transcriptional start site defined for the 4.1 kb somatic cell transcript. These data suggest that a haploid germ cell-specific promoter regulates expression of the ß1,4-GT gene in murine round spermatids.
spermatogenesis testis-specific gene expression
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. Charron, N. L. Shaper, B. Rajput, and J. H. Shaper A Novel 14-Base-Pair Regulatory Element Is Essential for In Vivo Expression of Murine beta 4-Galactosyltransferase-I in Late Pachytene Spermatocytes and Round Spermatids Mol. Cell. Biol., August 1, 1999; 19(8): 5823 - 5832. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Kurosawa, M. Inoue, Y. Yoshida, and S. Tsuji Molecular Cloning and Genomic Analysis of Mouse Galbeta 1,3GalNAc-specific GalNAc alpha 2,6-Sialyltransferase J. Biol. Chem., June 21, 1996; 271(25): 15109 - 15116. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Rajput, N. L. Shaper, and J. H. Shaper Transcriptional Regulation of Murine beta1,4-Galactosyltransferase in Somatic Cells J. Biol. Chem., March 1, 1996; 271(9): 5131 - 5142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Bookbinder, A Cheng, and J. Bleil Tissue- and species-specific expression of sp56, a mouse sperm fertilization protein Science, July 7, 1995; 269(5220): 86 - 89. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|