Biomaterial Database

Cloning and analysis of monkey fertilin reveals novel alpha subunit isoforms. 1995

A C Perry, and P M Gichuhi, and R Jones, and L Hall

Department of Biochemsitry, University of Bristol, School of Medical Sciences, U.K.

The fertilin complex, a heterodimeric surface membrane glycoprotein found on the head region of mammalian spermatozoa, has been reported to mediate membrane fusion with the egg plasma membrane during fertilization. We have employed PCR to generate products corresponding to monkey (Macaca fascicularis) fertilins from testis cDNA. These PCR products have been used to isolate full-length fertilin cDNA clones corresponding to both alpha and beta subunits. Both monkey fertilin alpha and beta cDNAs encode proteins which belong to an expanding family of metalloproteinase-like, disintegrin-like, cysteine-rich, mammalian proteins. Surprisingly, cDNAs for two fertilin alpha isoforms, alpha I and alpha II, were isolated, encoding proteins of 905 and 825 residues respectively. The predicted fertilin alpha isoforms share extensive identity, but differ significantly towards their N- and C-termini, suggesting the possibility of more than one type of fertilin complex in primates. Alignment of monkey alpha and beta fertilins with their respective guinea-pig counterparts suggests a high level of overall structural conservation throughout, whilst providing new insights into the domain function of each.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007536	Isomerism	The phenomenon whereby certain chemical compounds have structures that are different although the compounds possess the same elemental composition. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)	Isomerisms
D008252	Macaca fascicularis	A species of the genus MACACA which typically lives near the coast in tidal creeks and mangrove swamps primarily on the islands of the Malay peninsula.	Burmese Long-Tailed Macaque,Crab-Eating Monkey,Cynomolgus Monkey,M. f. aurea,M. fascicularis,Macaca fascicularis aurea,Monkey, Crab-Eating,Monkey, Cynomolgus,Crab-Eating Macaque,Burmese Long Tailed Macaque,Crab Eating Macaque,Crab Eating Monkey,Crab-Eating Macaques,Crab-Eating Monkeys,Cynomolgus Monkeys,Long-Tailed Macaque, Burmese,Macaque, Burmese Long-Tailed,Macaque, Crab-Eating,Monkey, Crab Eating
D008297	Male		Males
D008562	Membrane Glycoproteins	Glycoproteins found on the membrane or surface of cells.	Cell Surface Glycoproteins,Surface Glycoproteins,Cell Surface Glycoprotein,Membrane Glycoprotein,Surface Glycoprotein,Glycoprotein, Cell Surface,Glycoprotein, Membrane,Glycoprotein, Surface,Glycoproteins, Cell Surface,Glycoproteins, Membrane,Glycoproteins, Surface,Surface Glycoprotein, Cell,Surface Glycoproteins, Cell
D008565	Membrane Proteins	Proteins which are found in membranes including cellular and intracellular membranes. They consist of two types, peripheral and integral proteins. They include most membrane-associated enzymes, antigenic proteins, transport proteins, and drug, hormone, and lectin receptors.	Cell Membrane Protein,Cell Membrane Proteins,Cell Surface Protein,Cell Surface Proteins,Integral Membrane Proteins,Membrane-Associated Protein,Surface Protein,Surface Proteins,Integral Membrane Protein,Membrane Protein,Membrane-Associated Proteins,Membrane Associated Protein,Membrane Associated Proteins,Membrane Protein, Cell,Membrane Protein, Integral,Membrane Proteins, Integral,Protein, Cell Membrane,Protein, Cell Surface,Protein, Integral Membrane,Protein, Membrane,Protein, Membrane-Associated,Protein, Surface,Proteins, Cell Membrane,Proteins, Cell Surface,Proteins, Integral Membrane,Proteins, Membrane,Proteins, Membrane-Associated,Proteins, Surface,Surface Protein, Cell
D008666	Metalloendopeptidases	ENDOPEPTIDASES which use a metal such as ZINC in the catalytic mechanism.	Metallo-Endoproteinases,Metalloendopeptidase
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D011506	Proteins	Linear POLYPEPTIDES that are synthesized on RIBOSOMES and may be further modified, crosslinked, cleaved, or assembled into complex proteins with several subunits. The specific sequence of AMINO ACIDS determines the shape the polypeptide will take, during PROTEIN FOLDING, and the function of the protein.	Gene Products, Protein,Gene Proteins,Protein,Protein Gene Products,Proteins, Gene
D003001	Cloning, Molecular	The insertion of recombinant DNA molecules from prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic sources into a replicating vehicle, such as a plasmid or virus vector, and the introduction of the resultant hybrid molecules into recipient cells without altering the viability of those cells.	Molecular Cloning
D006168	Guinea Pigs	A common name used for the genus Cavia. The most common species is Cavia porcellus which is the domesticated guinea pig used for pets and biomedical research.	Cavia,Cavia porcellus,Guinea Pig,Pig, Guinea,Pigs, Guinea