Molecular Cloning and Chromosomal Localization of the MouseGpr37Gene Encoding an Orphan G-Protein-Coupled Peptide Receptor Expressed in Brain and Testis

D Marazziti, A Gallo, E Golini, R Matteoni… - Genomics, 1998 - Elsevier
D Marazziti, A Gallo, E Golini, R Matteoni, GP Tocchini-Valentini
Genomics, 1998Elsevier
We report the cloning of the mouse ortholog of the humanGPR37gene, which encodes an
orphan G-protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in brain tissues and homologous to
neuropeptide-specific receptors (985433, Genomics 45: 68–77; 985433, Biochem. Biophys.
Res. Commun. 233: 559–567). The genomic organization of theGPR37gene is conserved in
both mouse and human species with a single intron interrupting the receptor-coding
sequence within the presumed third transmembrane domain. Comparative genetic mapping …
We report the cloning of the mouse ortholog of the humanGPR37gene, which encodes an orphan G-protein-coupled receptor highly expressed in brain tissues and homologous to neuropeptide-specific receptors (985433,Genomics 45:68–77;985433,Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 233:559–567). The genomic organization of theGPR37gene is conserved in both mouse and human species with a single intron interrupting the receptor-coding sequence within the presumed third transmembrane domain. Comparative genetic mapping of theGPR37gene showed that it maps to a conserved chromosomal segment on proximal mouse chromosome 6 and human chromosome 7q31. The mouseGpr37gene contains an open reading frame coding for a 600-amino-acid protein 83% identical to the humanGPR37gene product. The predicted mouse GPR37 protein contains seven putative hydrophobic transmembrane domains, as well as a long (249 amino acid residues), arginine- and proline-rich amino-terminal extracellular domain, which is also a distinctive feature of the human GPR37 receptor. Northern blot analysis of mouse tissues withGpr37-specific probes revealed a main 3.8-kb mRNA and a much less abundant 8-kb mRNA, both expressed in the brain. A 3-kb mRNA is also expressed in the testis. Both the mouse and the humanGPR37genes may belong to a class of highly conserved mammalian genes encoding a novel type of G-protein-coupled receptor predominantly expressed in the brain.
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