Four classes of mRNA are expressed from the mouse int-2 gene, a member of the FGF gene family.

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Abstract
Mouse embryos at 7.5 days of gestation and endodermal cells derived from embryonal carcinoma cells each express four int‐2 mRNAs of similar size and relative abundance. To determine their structure and coding potential, we prepared a cDNA library from endoderm mRNA and isolated several int‐2 cDNAs. Structural analysis of these cDNAs combined with Northern blot hybridization and primer extension analyses of int‐2 mRNA revealed that the differences between the mRNAs are generated through the use of two alternate transcriptional start sites and two alternate polyadenylation sites. All four mRNAs share a common core sequence that encodes a protein with amino acid similarity to fibroblast growth factor.