Rm. Wright et al., CDNA CLONING, CHARACTERIZATION, AND TISSUE-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION OF HUMAN XANTHINE DEHYDROGENASE XANTHINE-OXIDASE, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 90(22), 1993, pp. 10690-10694
We isolated cDNAs encoding xanthine dehydrogenase (XD; xanthine:NAD+ o
xidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.204) from a human liver cDNA library. The comp
lete nucleotide sequence of human XD was determined; the deduced amino
acid sequence encoded a protein of 1336 amino acid residues of M(r) 1
47,782. Human XD possessed many of the signature sequences typical of
XDs from flies and rodents, including an unusual cysteine distribution
, a potential 2Fe/2S binding site, and a putative molybdopterin cofact
or binding domain. Analysis of potential NAD binding sites suggested a
simple hypothesis for the conversion of human XD into the oxygen meta
bolite forming xanthine oxidase (XO; xanthine:oxygen oxidoreductase, E
C 1.1.3.22). Using a human XD complementary RNA hybridization probe, w
e found a 5100-base RNA in human liver by RNA blot-hybridization analy
sis. This RNA exhibited tissue-specific distribution that may be perti
nent to XD- and XO-mediated oxygen radical injury in ischemia/reperfus
ion and inflammation. A second 4500-base RNA was detected in some tiss
ues and may arise through differential transcription termination.