FINE-STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN CERULOPLASMIN GENE

We characterized the genomic region corresponding to the human cerulop lasmin cDNA previously reported. Using PCR-direct sequencing methods, we determined precise intron/exon boundaries and intron-exon compositi on of the gene in the region. The gene region spanned about 50 kb and was composed of 19 exons and 18 introns. The lengths of exons and intr ons range from 107 to over 267 bp and from 0.44 to 10.0 kb, respective ly. The translation initiation codon and the termination codon were lo cated in exons 1 and 19, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of the introns were also determined in the region around the intron/exon bou ndaries for 24 - 220 bp. All the sequences around the intron/exon boun daries were consistent with the 5' and 3' consensus sequences for spli ce junctions of transcribed genes. Putative lariat sequences were iden tified between -17 and -42 nucleotides from the 3' splice junction for all 18 introns. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.