STRUCTURE OF THE RAT GENE ENCODING THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL ACYL-COA-BINDING PROTEIN - CONSERVATION OF INTRON-1 SEQUENCES IN RODENTS AND MAN

The entire gene encoding the rat acyl-CoA-binding protein (ACBP), and intron 1 of the mouse and human ACBP genes were sequenced and analyzed . A CpG island has been maintained in human ACBP which, in contrast to the rodent ACBP genes, is subject to alternative splicing. Analysis o f the rat intron 2 and 3 sequences identified a number of potential al ternative splice donor and splice acceptor sites. However, RNase prote ction analysis revealed no alternatively spliced transcripts in RNA fr om various rat tissues. Several repetitive elements belonging to the I D, B1 and B2 families are present in introns 2 and 3.