Human γ enolase: Isolation of a cDNA clone and expression in normal and tumor tissues of human origin

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Abstract
We have isolated and sequenced a cDNA clone encod- ing the human γ enolase. Comparison of our cDNA sequence and the rat γ enolase sequence revealed 97% homology at the level of amino acid sequence. The two coding regions were 91% homologous on the nu- cleotide level, whereas the 3′ noncoding regions were much less homologous (32%). Further comparison of our cDNA sequence with the human a enolase re- vealed an 82% homology at the amino acid level and a 75% homology at the nucleotide level for the two coding regions, whereas the 3′ nontranslated regions were only 30% homologous. Using a portion of the 3′ nontranslated region of our cDNA, shown to be spe- cific for human γ enolase, a single 2.5 kb mRNA was detected in human brain tissue. This same γ enolase message was also found in a number of human normal nonneuronal tissues, and in several human tumor- derived cell lines. Expression of the mRNA for the γ enolase subunit should thus be used with caution when identifying the cells of neuronal or neuroendocrine origin.