Characterization of a rat airway cDNA encoding a mucin-like protein

Sp1 protein contributes to airway-specific rat MUC 2 mucin gene transcription

We have shown increases in the abundance of airway mucin mRNA during the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in rat models (Jany et al., 1991) and now seek to determine the underlying mechanisms. As transcriptional modulation may be involved, we provide here a functional analysis of the 5' flanking region of a rat mucin gene (MUC 2). Using deletion mutants to bp -859, we constructed expression cassettes in CAT vectors and transfected them into two MUC 2-expressing cell lines, SPOC 1, a rat airway epithelial cell line and IEC-6, a rat intestinal epithelial cell line, and into one MUC 2 non-expressing cell line, FR, a rat skin fibroblast cell line. Results indicated that nucleotides -59 to -40 mediated high level expression in SPOC 1, but not in the other cells. Used as a probe in gel shift assays, fragment -59/-40 formed complexes of differing mobilities when incubated with nuclear protein extracts from the three cell types. Mutation of the putative Sp1 binding site in the probe sequence interfered with protein binding in all three cell types, but anti-Sp1 antibody supershifted a band formed only by airway cell extracts. A model of airway cell-specific MUC 2 transcription is proposed.

The transcripts of the apomucin genes MUC2, MUC4, and MUC5AC are large and appear as distinct bands

RNA from four colorectal carcinoma cell lines was prepared and analysed in Northern blots using probes for the MUC2, MUC4, and MUC5AC mucin apoprotein genes. The sizes of the transcripts were very large, in the order of at least 12-16 kb. The presence of distinct bands is in contrast to earlier reports, where these transcripts showed extensive polydispersity. RNA from rat small intestine was also prepared and probed with cDNA for the rat Muc2 mucin gene. This analysis also showed a large and discrete hybridizing band, indicating that apomucin mRNA of well-defined size can be obtained also from a tissue with high endogenous RNase activity.

Cloning and sequence homology of a rat UDP-GalNAc:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase

A UDP-GalNAc:polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase (polypeptide GalNAc transferase) cDNA was amplified from rat sublingual, submandibular and parotid glands, brain, skeletal muscle, and liver, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequences derived from bovine polypeptide GalNAc transferase-Type 1 (polypeptide GalNAc transferase-T1). The transcripts encoding the rat sublingual gland and bovine enzymes were 91% identical in nucleotide sequence, except in their 5' and 3' untranslated regions. The enzymes encoded by the rat and bovine cDNAs were 559 amino acids in length and were virtually identical (98% amino acid sequence identity and 99.5% homologous overall). Northern blot analysis indicates that the polypeptide GalNAc transferase-T1 transcripts are expressed in many tissues but at widely differing levels. Although the amino acid sequence of polypeptide GalNAc transferase-T1 is conserved among mammals, the pattern of tissue expression varies between rats and humans. For example, the steady-state level of polypeptide GalNAc transferase-T1 transcript is quite low in lung relative to other rat tissues, whereas high expression of this transcript is detected in human lung. Therefore, we surmise that isoforms of polypeptide GalNAc transferase must exist and that isoforms are expressed in a tissue-dependent fashion. Searches of the GenBank database have revealed homologous sequences for several isoforms derived from several human tissues. In addition, hypothetical proteins from C. elegans also display strong homology; evidence suggests six ancestral isoforms of polypeptide GalNAc transferases may exist in C. elegans.