STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN INTER-ALPHA-TRYPSIN INHIBITOR LIGHT-CHAIN GENE

The human inter‐α‐trypsin inhibitor (ITI) light‐chain gene, which codes for the two proteins α1‐microglobulin (protein HC) and ITI‐derived human inhibitor of 30 kDa (HI‐30), was isolated from a human genomic library. This gene, present as a single copy in the human genome, is composed of 10 exons and 9 introns distributed over 20 kbp. A single transcriptional initiation site was identified in the 5′‐flanking region which contained promoter elements, but no typical TATA box. However a sequence equivalent to the TATA box is present on both sense and anti‐sense strands in the 5′‐flanking region of the first exon coding for HI‐3C. The exon‐intron organization suggets that the region coding for protein HC and other members of the lipocalin superfamily evolved from a common ancestral gene that is probabaly differnt from that coding for HI‐30 These data suggest that two distinct ancestral genes could have existed and fused during evolution. Several direct and one inverted repeats are also found within this gene, as well as potential glucorticoid‐receptor binding sites. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved