DETECTION AND QUANTITATION OF THE NOVEL FERRITIN HEAVY-CHAIN MESSAGE IN HUMAN TISSUES

We reported that in the fetal brain use of an alternate polyadenylatio n site in the premRNA for ferritin heavy chain generates two mature mR NAs of different lengths. The larger mRNA contains an additional 279 n ucleotide sequence at the 3' untranslated region. Here we use Northern blot analysis and show that this mRNA is also present in other human tissues. Its relative concentration is in the order: brain > kidney > lung > skeletal muscle > pancreas > heart = placenta = liver.