IMMUNOREACTIVE GROWTH-HORMONE IN HUMAN PERIPHERAL T-LYMPHOCYTES - ENCODING SEQUENCE OF CDNA IDENTICAL TO THAT OF THE PITUITARY HUMAN GROWTH-HORMONE

Objective To detect the cDNA sequence of immunoreactive growth hormone (irGH) in human lymphocytes and to compare ir with that of human grow th hormone (hGH) in the pituitary. Methods The mRNA oi irGH in human p eripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was detected by Northern blot analysis. The cDNA of irGH was obtained by reverse-transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction amplification and obtained by screening from a cDNA library of human T lymphocytes. The sequence of irGH cDNA was determined and compared with that of the pituitary hGH. Results Very l ow level of irGH mRNA was detected in human PBMCs by Northern blot ana lysis. The cDNA sequence of the entire open reading frame of human irG H was 651 bp, which is identical to that of pituitary hGH. Conclusions The same hGH molecule can be produced by human pituitary somatotrophi c cells and human peripheral lymphocytes.