Identification and characterization of 5 ' extension of mammalian agrin cDNA, the exons and the promoter sequences

Agrin, which is secreted from motor neurons, is essential for the formation and maintenance of the vertebrate neuromuscular junctions. Here we show th e complete N-terminal sequence of the mammalian cDNA required for the expre ssion and secretion as well as the intron/exon structure and the 5'-flankin g sequence required for basal promoter activity. The 5'-flanking region and the first exon are extremely GC rich and contain a CpG island. These featu res may account for hindrance in identification of the 5' end of the cDNA a nd the promoter region of the mammalian agrin gene. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.