Did androgen-binding protein paralogs undergo neo- and/or Subfunctionalization as the Abp gene region expanded in the mouse genome?

ABSTRACT: The Androgen-binding protein (Abp) region of the mouse genome contains 30 Abpa genes encoding alpha subunits and 34 Abpbg genes encoding betagamma subunits, their products forming dimers composed of an alpha and a betagamma subunit. We endeavored to determine how many Abp genes are expressed as proteins in tears and saliva, and as transcripts in the exocrine glands producing them. Using standard PCR, we amplified Abp transcripts from cDNA libraries of C57BL/6 mice and found fifteen Abp gene transcripts in the lacrimal gland and five in the submandibular gland. Proteomic analyses identified proteins corresponding to eleven of the lacrimal gland transcripts, all of them different from the three salivary ABPs reported previously. Our qPCR results showed that five of the six transcripts that l

SUBMITTER: Karn RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4274081 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature