A new splicing variant for human tyrosine hydroxylase in the adrenal medulla

It has been reported that several mRNA isoforms of tyrosine 3-monooxygenase (tyrosine hydroxylase; TH) occur only in primates. New TH isoforms produce d by skipping of exon 3 in the adrenal medulla of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) have recently been reported, J. Neurochem. 67 (19 96) 19. Here, we looked for the presence of new TH isoforms in control brai ns and adrenal medulla and in brains from patients with PSP. We found a nov el type of TH mRNA in the adrenal medulla from one of the control subjects. The mRNA lacked exon 4, resulting in a premature stop codon at amino acid 147. This result suggests the importance of alternative splicing in the reg ulation of TH activity. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights r eserved.