Molecular cloning and expression analysis of GFRα-3, a novel cDNA related to GDNFRα and NTNRα

Satoshi Nomoto, Sachiko Ito, Li Xia Yang, Kazutoshi Kiuchi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurturin (NTN) are structurally related to TGF-β and are survival factors for sympathetic, sensory, and central nervous system neurons. GDNF transmits its signal primarily through a receptor complex containing the receptor tyrosine kinase Ret and a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked receptor, GDNFRα. NTN utilizes a receptor complex system that consists of Ret and another GPI-linked receptor, NTNRα. We have identified a mouse cDNA, termed GFRα-3, that encodes a putative GPI-linked receptor. At the protein level, mouse GFRα-3 is 35% identical to mouse GDNFRα and 36% identical to mouse NTNRα. Northern blot analysis showed that GFRα-3 is expressed in fetal mouse heart, brain, lung, and kidney and adult heart. These results indicate that the tissue distribution of GFRα-3 mRNA is different from that of GDNFRα or NTNRα mRNA, and suggest that GFRα-3 may function in differentiation of embryonic cells expressing its mRNA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)849-853
Number of pages5
JournalBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Volume244
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 27 1998
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biophysics
  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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