Abstract.
Glutaminolysis is initiated by either of two isoforms, K- and L-types, of the enzyme phosphate-activated glutaminase. The chromosomal localization, genomic organization, and the tissue-specific expression of the genes have been investigated in the human by using isoform-specific cDNA probes. Results obtained from radiation hybrid mapping experiments assigned the K-glutaminase gene to human Chromosome (Chr) 2, and a second locus for l-glutaminase in Chr 12 was identified. Southern blot analysis with the L-cDNA probe showed hybridization to a single restriction fragment, while four to seven fragments were found to hybridize to the K-cDNA probe. The distribution of human glutaminase expression was also investigated: the L-cDNA probe detected a single band of 2.4 kb in liver, brain, and pancreas, whereas a single transcript of approximately 4.4 kb was detected in kidney, brain, heart, placenta, lung, and pancreas by using the K-cDNA probe. This work provides evidence that the human liver and kidney glutaminase isozymes are encoded by separate genes located on different chromosomes; furthermore, the expression pattern in human tissues revealed for both isoenzymes differs notably from the paradigm based upon the isoenzyme distribution in rats.
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Received: 10 May 2000 / Accepted: 30 June 2000
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Aledo, J., Gómez-Fabre, P., Olalla, L. et al. Identification of two human glutaminase loci and tissue-specific expression of the two related genes. 11, 1107–1110 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003350010190
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003350010190