I. Gantz et al., CLONING AND CHROMOSOMAL LOCALIZATION OF A GENE (GPR18) ENCODING A NOVEL-7 TRANSMEMBRANE RECEPTOR HIGHLY EXPRESSED IN SPLEEN AND TESTIS, Genomics, 42(3), 1997, pp. 462-466
Using the techniques of relaxed stringency polymerase ase chain reacti
on and genomic library screening, we have isolated homologous canine a
nd human genes that encode a novel putative seven transmembrane G-prot
ein-linked receptor, The gene encodes an open reading frame (ORF) of 9
93 bp. The sequences of the canine and human ORFs are highly conserved
, sharing 89% nucleotide identity and 92% amino acid similarity betwee
n the two species, Northern blot analysis demonstrates that mRNA trans
cripts of the gene are abundantly expressed in testis and spleen with
a lesser degree of expression observed in several other tissues associ
ated with endocrine and immunologic/hematologic function, The gene, de
signated GPR18, was localized to human chromosome 13q32 using fluoresc
ence in situ hybridization. (C) 1997 Academic Press.