Structure of the gene encoding rat renin binding protein

Abstract

The gene encoding renin-binding protein was isolated from a Sprague-Dawley rat genomic DNA library and the exon-intron boundaries and transcription initiation sites were identified. The gene was found to span about 9.0 kilobase pairs and to be composed of eleven exons. The exon size ranged 76 to 225 base pairs. All the exon-intron junctional sequences conformed to the canonical GT-AG rule. The first exon encoded a 5'-untranslated region with the ATG translation start codon being in exon 2. The promoter region did not contain a TATA box, but it had two GC boxes in the 5'-untranslated sequence. The overall exon pattern of the rat RnBP gene correlated with the human RuBP gene [S. Takahashi, H. Inoue, and Y. Miyake, J. Biol. Chem., 267, 13007-13013 (1992)]. Moreover, the sizes of exons 2 to 10 in the rat RnBP gene were the same as those of the human RnBP gene. These results indicate that the structure of the RnBP gene is conserved among animals.