Cloning and sequence of cDNA coding for alpha 1-antitrypsin.

Abstract
Recombinant plasmids containing human and baboon c[complementary]DNA were screened for .alpha.1-antitrypsin, a major serine protease inhibitor present in blood. One plasmid, designated pBa.alpha.1a2, contained a cDNA insert of 1352 base pairs coding for the baboon inhibitor. It included 45 nucleotides that code for 15 amino acids present in the amino-terminal signal sequence of the protein, 1182 nucleotides that code for 394 amino acids in the mature protein, a stop codon and a noncoding region of 76 nucleotides. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of baboon .alpha.1-antitrypsin, human antithrombin III and chicken ovalbumin indicated that these 3 proteins are about 30% homologous. A 2nd plasmid, designated pH.alpha.1a1, contained a human cDNA insert of 306 base pairs. This plasmid coded for 69 amino acids present in the carboxyl-terminal region of human .alpha.1-antitrypsin. The human and baboon cDNA and their amino acid sequences are > 96% homologous.