Transcript heterogeneity of the human gene for Ca2+-binding protein regucalcin.
Regucalcin is a Ca2+-binding protein which plays a regulatory role in liver cell functions related to Ca2+. In this study we have cloned and characterized cDNA for regucalcin from human liver and human hepatoma cell line Hep G2 by screening and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The nucleotide sequences of the clones revealed that they were identical in their coding region and differed only in their 5' untranslated regions (UTRs). Northern blot analysis showed that regucalcin mRNA in the Hep G2 was longer than that of the liver. The present study demonstrates the existence of transcript heterogeneity of the human gene for regucalcin.