Differential expression of the five C4-related genes of H-2 w7mice

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Abstract
Mice bearing the H-2 w7 haplotype have five C4-related genes, one C4, one Slp, and three C4/Slp hybrid genes. The expression of these five genes in the liver of their respective mRNA. We have amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) three regions of the Ca/Slp mRNA where some of these five genes show nucleotides substitution. A relative amount of each gene product was estimated by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis or by direct counting of the number of respective clones after subcloning into a plasmid vector. A steady state level of the C4 mRNA was most abundant among C4-related gene transcripts. The hybrid 1 and 3 genes were expressed at a similar level which is about 1/2-1/3 of the C4 level. The hybrid 2 gene was expressed at about 1/5 of the hybrid 1 or 3 level. Neither male nor female H-2 w7 mice expressed the Slp gene. These results showed that the expression of the five C4-related genes of H-2 w7 mice is differentially regulated in spite of the close similarity in the nucleotide sequences in both the 5′ flanking and coding regions of these genes.