MOLECULAR-CLONING, GENOMIC ORGANIZATION, AND CHROMOSOMAL LOCALIZATIONOF THE HUMAN PANCREATITIS-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN (PAP) GENE

Pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) is a secretory pancreatic protei n present in small amounts in normal pancreas and overexpressed during the acute phase of the pancreatitis. In this paper, we describe the c loning, characterization, and chromosomal mapping of the human PAP gen e. The gene spans 2748 bp and contains six exons interrupted by five i ntrons. The gene has a typical promoter containing the sequences TATAA A and CCAAT 28 and 52 bp upstream of the cap site, respectively. We fo und striking similarities in genomic organization as well as in the pr omoter sequences between the human and rat PAP genes. The human PAP ge ne was mapped to chromosome 2p12 using rodent-human hybrid cells and i n situ chromosomal hybridization. This localization coincides with tha t of the reg/lithostathine gene, which encodes a pancreatic secretory protein structurally related to PAP, suggesting that both genes derive d from the same ancestral gene by duplication. (C) 1994 Academic Press ,Inc.