Abstract
The high affinity receptor for IgE, which mediates allergic reactions, is found exclusively on mast cells, basophils and epidermal Langerhans cells. It is composed of an α, β and two γ-polypeptide chains, inserted as a complex into the plasma membrane. The α and β-subunits are produced only by these cell types. This work describes the isolation and characterization of the gene which encodes the rat P-subunit. The single copy gene spans a 9 kbp region of DNA and is composed of seven exons and six introns. Transcriptional initiation begins from a single site, which is preceded by a very unique, putative transcriptional consensus sequence, the GATA box. Analysis of the 5'-region, upstream of exon 1, also reveals a unique sequence bias and a collection of repeating elements, suggesting several other potential transcriptional cis-control elements. The origins of the two, previously reported, different β-subunit transcripts result from the same start site of this gene, but use an alternative RNA processing mechanism involving exon 3.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 881-890 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Molecular Immunology |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1996 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements-This work was supported by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant AI-23456, and a Seed Grant from TTUHSC.
Keywords
- Gene structure
- Promoter region
- Rat FcεRI β-subunit