CLONING AND EXPRESSION OF HUMAN LIVER RHODANESE CDNA

cDNA for the human rhodanese (thiosulfate; cyanide sulfurtransferase, EC 2.8.1.1) was cloned from a human fetal liver cDNA library, Sequenci ng of the cDNA revealed an open reading frame that encodes a 297-resid ue polypeptide with a calculated mass of 33427 daltons. When the rhoda nese cDNA was transientlly expressed in Escherichia coli and Cos7 cell s, the rhodanese activity increased 40-fold and 150-fold, respectively , Sequence homology analysis showed that the human rhodanese is 89.6% identical to bovine, 90.2% identical to rat, 91.2% identical to mouse and Chinese hamster, and 71.4% similar to avian counterparts, respecti vely, and that rhodanese was highly conserved across evolution. (C) 19 97 Academic Press.