MOLECULAR-CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MOUSE STANNIOCALCIN CDNA

In bony fish, stanniocalcin is a glycoprotein hormone thought to be an important regulator of calcium uptake from the aquatic environment. A lthough stanniocalcin was previously thought to be unique to fish, rec ent evidence has indicated the existence of a human homologue. To faci litate studies of the function of stanniocalcin in mammals, we have no w isolated the mouse stanniocalcin cDNA. This cDNA encodes a predicted protein of the same length as its human counterpart and with a high l evel of similarity (238/247 amino acids are identical, and five repres ent conservative changes). As in human, the mRNA is expressed in many mouse tissues, suggesting that mammalian stanniocalcin has a paracrine rather than an endocrine role. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ir eland Ltd.