CHARACTERIZATION OF MURINE PACAP MESSENGER-RNA

A murine PACAP precursor cDNA was isolated by screening a brain cDNA l ibrary. The amino acid sequence of the precursor was highly similar (f rom 81% to 93% similarity) to its rat, human, and ovine counterparts. The primary structure of murine PACAP is identical with those from she ep, humans, and rats, indicating that the mature PACAP is well conserv ed among mammals. Northern blot analysis revealed that the approximate ly 2.4 kb transcript for the PACAP precursor is expressed in murine br ain. The verification that murine PACAP is identical to its human coun terpart provides a rationale for physiological and pathophysiological studies of PACAP in mice.