cDNA cloning and mRNA distribution of a mouse very long‐chain acyl‐CoA synthetase

Abstract
The interaction of the adrenoleukodystrophy protein (ALDP), mutated in the peroxisomal disorder X‐linked adrenoleukodystrophy, and the very long‐chain acyl‐CoA synthetase (VLACS), the enzyme whose function is missing in this disease, remains obscure. As a first step to studying this interaction in wild type versus ALDP‐deficient mice, we have cloned a VLACS cDNA from mouse liver. The 1860 bp open reading frame encodes a 620 amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 70.3 kDa. By Northern blot analysis, a 2.6 kbp VLACS mRNA was highly abundant in liver and kidney and present at low levels in brain and testes. By RT‐PCR VLACS mRNA was also detected in heart and lung but remained undetectable in skeletal muscle and spleen. In contrast to the peroxisomal β‐oxidation marker acyl‐CoA oxidase, whose mRNA level steadily increases during brain development, the VLACS transcript was found at a constant low level from embryo through adulthood, suggesting that additional isoforms may exist in brain.