Menkes gene: A potential locus for copper metabolism

We have been concerned with the functional significance of small poly (A)() RNAs with partial Menkes mRNA sequence that are found in non-Menkes human cells. One of these RNAs appears to have formed through a splicing event t hat excised exons 3-15 and formed a union between exons 2 and 16. This vari ant is common to nearly all the human cells lines that have been examined i n this laboratory and, of greater interest, appeared in HepG(2) cells and u ndifferentiated human placental cells that do not express the full-length t ranscript. The data suggest that the Menkes gene, through splicing modifica tions, may code for more than one protein. What is presently considered a g ene for a single protein may be a locus for a network of proteins involved in intracellular copper trafficking. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 12:331-335, 1 999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.