CLONING OF THE MURINE EOSINOPHIL PEROXIDASE GENE (MEPO) - CHARACTERIZATION OF A CONSERVED SUBGROUP OF MAMMALIAN HEMATOPOIETIC PEROXIDASES

The mouse eosinophil peroxidase (mEPO) gene was cloned by screening a random-primed bone marrow cDNA library at reduced criteria using a hEP O cDNA, An mEPO cDNA was subsequently used to isolate the mEPO gene fr om a h-genomic library, The mEPO gene displays a high degree of conser vation with its human homologue: the transcription units are approxima tely the same size, conserve the relative size and position of the 12 exons associated with each gene, and at a nucleotide level the mouse a nd human EPO genes are 86% identical in the protein coding regions and 66% identical in the 3'-untranslated trailer regions, This strong con servation extends to the encoded proteins which show similar to 90% am ino acid identity, Expression of the mEPO gene is restricted to tissue s containing eosinophil progenitor cells (e,g,, bone marrow and spleen ), a pattern similar to the expression of another murine eosinophil gr anule protein, major basic protein.