Molecular cloning of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-£] subunit cDNA from duck pituitary
Journal
General and Comparative Endocrinology
Journal Volume
148
Journal Issue
3
Pages
388-394
Date Issued
2006
Author(s)
Abstract
We have cloned FSH-£] cDNA from duck pituitary gland by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA end (RACE) methods. The cloned duck FSH-£] cDNA contains 1909-bp nucleotides including 396-bp of open-reading frame and 1491-bp of 3¡¬-untranslational region. The open-reading frame encodes a 131-amino acid protein with a putative 20-amino acid signal peptide and a putative 111-amino acid mature protein. The deduced amino acid sequence shows a remarkable similarity (94-98%) to those of other avian FSH-£] subunits; while it exhibits lower similarities with those of turtles (82-84%), mammals (63-71%), and amphibians (53-57%). The structural model analysis of duck FSH suggests that the cysteine-knot and £]-strands for maintaining the specific structural frame, and the "seat-belt" loop for specific binding to FSH receptor have been conserved in tetrapodian FSH-£]s. ? 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Subjects
cDNA Cloning
Duck
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
Pituitary gland
Structural model analysis
Type
journal article