CLONING, STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION ANALYSIS, AND CHROMOSOMAL ASSIGNMENTOF THE HUMAN GENE FOR THE NEUROSECRETORY PROTEIN VGF

The Vgf gene was originally identified as a 2.7-kb cDNA fragment isola ted from nerve growth factor-treated PC12 cells by differential displa y against PC12 cells, It is transcribed solely in subpopulations of ne uroendocrine cells in vivo and it is induced by neurotrophins in targe t cells in vitro. The single-copy human VGF gene was isolated from a g enomic library, The gene spans approximately 6 kb and contains two exo ns. The entire VGF protein is encoded by exon 2, while exon 1 contains only 5'-untranslated sequence. The structural organization of the hum an gene is similar to that described for the rat Vgf gene (S. R. J. Sa lton ct al., 1991, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:2335-2349) and both the transla ted and the untranslated regions show a high degree of sequence homolo gy to the rat gene. Northern blot analysis revealed a single transcrip t of approximately 2.7 kb that was detected only in mRNA preparations from brain, The gene was assigned to chromosome 7q22 by fluorescence i n situ hybridization. (C) 1997 Academic Press.