TISSUE-PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR MESSENGER-RNA IN VARIOUS HUMAN TISSUES AND ORGANS

The composition and content of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) mRNA in 57 human organs and tisues as well as in 12 human cell lines were studied. Poly(A)(+) RNA was hybridized on filters with different probe s: 1) human tPA cDNA; 2) DNA BglII/EcoRI fragment (450 bp) containing a part of the last exon of tPA gene; 3) DNA DraI fragment (1280 bp) co ntaining a region of untranscribed spacer adjacent to the 3' end of tP A gene, and 4) 31-membered oligonucleotide complementary to a site of the same spacer region. No heterogeneity in the tPA mRNA 3'-terminal p art was found in all the specimens studied. The tPA mRNA was present a lmost in all specimens, its content being maximal in kidney, hypophysi s, appendix, and retina, and minimal in liver, thymus, and spleen. Com parison with analogous data for mouse revealed a similar distribution of the tPA mRNA, with few exceptions.