Multiple variable first exons: a mechanism for cell- and tissue-specific gene regulation.

ABSTRACT: A large family of neural protocadherin (Pcdh) proteins is encoded by three closely linked mammalian gene clusters (alpha, beta, and gamma). Pcdh alpha and gamma clusters have a striking genomic organization. Specifically, each "variable" exon is spliced to a common set of downstream "constant" exons within each cluster. Recent studies demonstrated that the cell-specific expression of each Pcdh gene is determined bya combination of variable-exon promoter activation and cis-splicing of the corresponding variable exon to the first constant exon. To determine whether there are other similarly organized gene clusters in mammalian genomes, we performed a genome-wide search and identified a large number of mammalian genes containing multiple variable first exons. Here we describe several clusters

SUBMITTER: Zhang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC314283 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature