The gas 5 gene shows four alternative splicing patterns without coding fora protein

The murine gas5 gene was originally isolated based on its preferential expr ession in the growth arrest phase of the cell cycle. This gene contains 12 exons from which two alternatively spliced transcripts have been initially identified. More recently, it has been reported that both human and murine gas5 genes contain in their introns sequences homologous to the small nucle olar RNAs involved in the processing of ribosomal RNA. Here we report on th e identification and analysis of the expression pattern of two novel altern atively spliced mouse gas5 mRNAs which contain no obvious open reading fram e (ORF). Using antibodies generated against the putative amino acid sequenc e deduced from the gas5 cDNAs, we were not able to detect any Gas5 protein in cultured cells or murine tissues extracts. Even more definitive evidence that the gas5 gene may not encode a protein was obtained by cloning and se quencing the rat gas5 gene which revealed that the putative ORF is interrup ted by a stop codon after the first 13 amino acids. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.