Cloning and expression of human cDNA encoding human homologue of pituitary tumor transforming gene

Abstract

Recently, a potent transforming gene which was exclusively expressed in rat pituitary tumor but not in normal pituitary had been isolated and named as pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG). A cDNA clone encoding human homologue of rat PTTG was isolated from human fetal liver cDNA library. It contained an open reading frame of 603 base pairs predicting a protein composed of 201 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 26 kDa. The deduced protein showed about 85% homology (78% identity, 7% favored substitution) with the rat PTTG. Northern blot analysis showed that the cDNA hybridized to 1.0 kb mRNA species which was expressed in fetal liver and several cancer cell lines. These results suggest that the presence of the human homologue of rat PTTG gene may not be restricted to pituitary tumor.