CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE HUMAN ADENOSINE A3 RECEPTOR GENE

We have cloned the gene for the human adenosine A3 receptor and report characterisation of its intron/exon structure and upstream untranslat ed region. The open reading frame is interrupted by a single intron of approximately 2.2 kb, within the coding sequence for the second cytop lasmic loop. Sequence analysis of the upstream region reveals no TATA box but the transcriptional start site has been mapped to a common nuc leotide in three tissues by 5'-RACE and RT-PCR analysis. Northern blot ting, 5'-RACE PCR acid analysis of upstream sequences, have provided n o evidence for the occurrence of further introns in the upstream untra nslated sequence or of transcriptional regulation by alternative splic ing in this region.