The maltase-glucoamylase gene: common ancestry to sucrase-isomaltase with complementary starch digestion activities.

ABSTRACT: Brush-border maltase-glucoamylase (MGA) activity serves as the final step of small intestinal digestion of linear regions of dietary starch to glucose. Brush-border sucrase-isomaltase (SI) activity is complementary, through digestion of branched starch linkages. Here we report the cloning and sequencing of human MGA gene and demonstrate its close evolutionary relationship to SI. The gene is approximately 82,000 bp long and located at chromosome 7q34. Forty-eight exons were identified. The 5' gene product, when expressed as the N-terminal protein sequence, hydrolyzes maltose and starch, but not sucrose, and is thus distinct from SI. The catalytic residue was identified by mutation of an aspartic acid and was found to be identical with that described for SI. The exon structures of MGA and SI

SUBMITTER: Nichols BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC298790 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature