DISCORDANT EXPRESSION AND VARIABLE NUMBERS OF NEIGHBORING GGA-RICH AND GAA-RICH TRIPLET REPEATS IN THE 3' UNTRANSLATED REGIONS OF 2 GROUPS OF MESSENGER-RNAS ENCODED BY THE RAT POLYMERIC IMMUNOGLOBULIN RECEPTORGENE
Ks. Koch et al., DISCORDANT EXPRESSION AND VARIABLE NUMBERS OF NEIGHBORING GGA-RICH AND GAA-RICH TRIPLET REPEATS IN THE 3' UNTRANSLATED REGIONS OF 2 GROUPS OF MESSENGER-RNAS ENCODED BY THE RAT POLYMERIC IMMUNOGLOBULIN RECEPTORGENE, Nucleic acids research, 23(7), 1995, pp. 1098-1112
An unusual S1-nuclease sensitive microsatellite (STMS) has been found
in the single copy, rat polymeric immunoglobulin receptor gene (PIGR)
terminal exon, In Fisher rats, elements within or beyond the STMS are
expressed variably in the 3' untranslated regions (3'UTRs) of two 'Gro
ups' of PIGR-encoded hepatic mRNAs (plg-R) during liver regeneration.
STMS elements include neighboring constant regions (a 60-bp d[GA]-rich
tract with a chi-like octamer, followed by 15 tandem d[GGA] repeats)
that merge directly with 36 or 39 tandem d[GAA] repeats (Fisher or Wis
tar strains, respectively) interrupted by d[AA] between their 5th-6th
repeat units. The Wistar STMS is flanked upstream by two regions of ne
arly contiguous d[CA] or d[CT] repeats in the 3' end of intron 8; and
downstream, by a 283 bp 'unit' containing several inversions at its 5'
end, and two polyadenylation signals at its 3' end. The 283 nt unit i
s expressed in Group I plg-R mRNAs; but it is absent in the Group 2 fa
mily so that their GAA repeats merge with their poly_A tails, In contr
ast to genomic sequence, GGA triplet repeats are amplified (n greater
than or equal to 24-26), whereas GAA triplet repeats are truncated var
iably (n less than or equal to 9-37) and expressed uninterruptedly in
bath mRNA Groups, These results suggest that 3' end processing of the
rat PIGR gene may involve misalignment, slippage and premature termina
tion of RNA polymerase II, The function of this unusual processing and
possible roles of chi-like octamers in quiescent or extrahepatic tiss
ues are discussed.