Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1986 Jul;5(7):1601–1606. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04402.x

Characterization of a human gene inducible by alpha- and beta-interferons and its expression in mouse cells.

J M Kelly, A C Porter, Y Chernajovsky, C S Gilbert, G R Stark, I M Kerr
PMCID: PMC1166985  PMID: 3017706

Abstract

An intact interferon-inducible gene has been isolated from a cosmid library of human genomic DNA. The gene (designated 6-16) encodes a mRNA of approximately 1 kb which is induced well by alpha- and beta- but poorly by gamma-interferons. Genomic and cDNA sequences indicate that the gene contains five exons, and that the mRNA encodes a hydrophobic polypeptide of 130 amino acids with a putative NH2-terminal signal sequence. The 5' end has been identified by primer extension. The corresponding genomic DNA contains a TATA box 20 nucleotides upstream of the putative transcription initiation site. After transfection of the human genomic cosmid into mouse Ltk- cells, human 6-16 mRNA is expressed in response to mouse alpha- and beta- but not gamma-interferons with the same kinetics and dose-response as in the human cells. No such expression is observed in response to human interferons. It can be concluded that the human cosmid DNA contains all of the sequences necessary for alpha- and beta-interferon-induced gene expression and that the mechanisms governing such expression are conserved between murine and human cells.

Full text

PDF
1602

Images in this article

1601Fig. 1.
on p.1601
1602Fig. 3.
on p.1602
1604Fig. 5.
on p.1604
1604Fig. 6.
on p.1604

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allen G., Fantes K. H., Burke D. C., Morser J. Analysis and purification of human lymphoblastoid (Namalwa) interferon using a monoclonal antibody. J Gen Virol. 1982 Nov;63(Pt 1):207–212. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-63-1-207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Benech P., Mory Y., Revel M., Chebath J. Structure of two forms of the interferon-induced (2'-5') oligo A synthetase of human cells based on cDNAs and gene sequences. EMBO J. 1985 Sep;4(9):2249–2256. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03922.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berget S. M. Are U4 small nuclear ribonucleoproteins involved in polyadenylation? Nature. 1984 May 10;309(5964):179–182. doi: 10.1038/309179a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Birnstiel M. L., Busslinger M., Strub K. Transcription termination and 3' processing: the end is in site! Cell. 1985 Jun;41(2):349–359. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80007-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Breathnach R., Chambon P. Organization and expression of eucaryotic split genes coding for proteins. Annu Rev Biochem. 1981;50:349–383. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.50.070181.002025. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Burrone O. R., Milstein C. Control of HLA-A,B,C synthesis and expression in interferon-treated cells. EMBO J. 1982;1(3):345–349. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1982.tb01172.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Colbere-Garapin F., Chousterman S., Horodniceanu F., Kourilsky P., Garapin A. C. Cloning of the active thymidine kinase gene of herpes simplex virus type 1 in Escherichia coli K-12. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Aug;76(8):3755–3759. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.8.3755. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Efstratiadis A., Posakony J. W., Maniatis T., Lawn R. M., O'Connell C., Spritz R. A., DeRiel J. K., Forget B. G., Weissman S. M., Slightom J. L. The structure and evolution of the human beta-globin gene family. Cell. 1980 Oct;21(3):653–668. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90429-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Friedman R. L., Manly S. P., McMahon M., Kerr I. M., Stark G. R. Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of interferon-induced gene expression in human cells. Cell. 1984 Oct;38(3):745–755. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90270-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Friedman R. L., Stark G. R. alpha-Interferon-induced transcription of HLA and metallothionein genes containing homologous upstream sequences. Nature. 1985 Apr 18;314(6012):637–639. doi: 10.1038/314637a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gorman C. M., Howard B. H., Reeves R. Expression of recombinant plasmids in mammalian cells is enhanced by sodium butyrate. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Nov 11;11(21):7631–7648. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.21.7631. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hohn B., Collins J. A small cosmid for efficient cloning of large DNA fragments. Gene. 1980 Nov;11(3-4):291–298. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90069-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Houghton M., Stewart A. G., Doel S. M., Emtage J. S., Eaton M. A., Smith J. C., Patel T. P., Lewis H. M., Porter A. G., Birch J. R. The amino-terminal sequence of human fibroblast interferon as deduced from reverse transcripts obtained using synthetic oligonucleotide primers. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 May 10;8(9):1913–1931. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.9.1913. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Keller W. The RNA lariat: a new ring to the splicing of mRNA precursors. Cell. 1984 Dec;39(3 Pt 2):423–425. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90449-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kelly J. M., Gilbert C. S., Stark G. R., Kerr I. M. Differential regulation of interferon-induced mRNAs and c-myc mRNA by alpha- and gamma-interferons. Eur J Biochem. 1985 Dec 2;153(2):367–371. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1985.tb09312.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kozak M. Compilation and analysis of sequences upstream from the translational start site in eukaryotic mRNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jan 25;12(2):857–872. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.2.857. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Larner A. C., Jonak G., Cheng Y. S., Korant B., Knight E., Darnell J. E., Jr Transcriptional induction of two genes in human cells by beta interferon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Nov;81(21):6733–6737. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.21.6733. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Lindenmaier W., Hauser H., de Wilke I. G., Schütz G. Gene shuttling: moving of cloned DNA into and out of eukaryotic cells. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Feb 25;10(4):1243–1256. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.4.1243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Luster A. D., Unkeless J. C., Ravetch J. V. Gamma-interferon transcriptionally regulates an early-response gene containing homology to platelet proteins. Nature. 1985 Jun 20;315(6021):672–676. doi: 10.1038/315672a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. McKnight S. L., Kingsbury R. Transcriptional control signals of a eukaryotic protein-coding gene. Science. 1982 Jul 23;217(4557):316–324. doi: 10.1126/science.6283634. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. McLauchlan J., Gaffney D., Whitton J. L., Clements J. B. The consensus sequence YGTGTTYY located downstream from the AATAAA signal is required for efficient formation of mRNA 3' termini. Nucleic Acids Res. 1985 Feb 25;13(4):1347–1368. doi: 10.1093/nar/13.4.1347. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. McMahon M., Stark G. R., Kerr I. M. Interferon-induced gene expression in wild-type and interferon-resistant human lymphoblastoid (Daudi) cells. J Virol. 1986 Jan;57(1):362–366. doi: 10.1128/jvi.57.1.362-366.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Mount S. M. A catalogue of splice junction sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jan 22;10(2):459–472. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.2.459. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Norrander J., Kempe T., Messing J. Construction of improved M13 vectors using oligodeoxynucleotide-directed mutagenesis. Gene. 1983 Dec;26(1):101–106. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(83)90040-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Parker B. A., Stark G. R. Regulation of simian virus 40 transcription: sensitive analysis of the RNA species present early in infections by virus or viral DNA. J Virol. 1979 Aug;31(2):360–369. doi: 10.1128/jvi.31.2.360-369.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Reed R., Maniatis T. Intron sequences involved in lariat formation during pre-mRNA splicing. Cell. 1985 May;41(1):95–105. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(85)90064-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Rosa F., Hatat D., Abadie A., Wallach D., Revel M., Fellous M. Differential regulation of HLA-DR mRNAs and cell surface antigens by interferon. EMBO J. 1983;2(9):1585–1589. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01628.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Rosa F., Le Bouteiller P. P., Abadie A., Mishal Z., Lemonnier F. A., Bourrel D., Lamotte M., Kalil J., Jordan B., Fellous M. HLA class I genes integrated into murine cells are inducible by interferon. Eur J Immunol. 1983 Jun;13(6):495–499. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830130612. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Sanger F. Determination of nucleotide sequences in DNA. Science. 1981 Dec 11;214(4526):1205–1210. doi: 10.1126/science.7302589. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Sharp P. A. Conversion of RNA to DNA in mammals: Alu-like elements and pseudogenes. Nature. 1983 Feb 10;301(5900):471–472. doi: 10.1038/301471a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Staeheli P., Haller O., Boll W., Lindenmann J., Weissmann C. Mx protein: constitutive expression in 3T3 cells transformed with cloned Mx cDNA confers selective resistance to influenza virus. Cell. 1986 Jan 17;44(1):147–158. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90493-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Yoshie O., Schmidt H., Lengyel P., Reddy E. S., Morgan W. R., Weissman S. M. Transcripts of human HLA gene fragments lacking the 5'-terminal region in transfected mouse cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Feb;81(3):649–653. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.3.649. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. von Heijne G. How signal sequences maintain cleavage specificity. J Mol Biol. 1984 Feb 25;173(2):243–251. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(84)90192-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. von Heijne G. Signal sequences. The limits of variation. J Mol Biol. 1985 Jul 5;184(1):99–105. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(85)90046-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES