| Research Abstract |
In order to identify a disease associated gene which is involved in the development of human polycystic kidney disease (PKD), we have constructed a physical map of the 250-kb segment and searched new genes within the segment on the centromeric side of the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) including a human homologue of the mouse Ke6 gene, HKE6.. The mouse Ke6 gene is a candidate gene responsible for the development of PKD.From the analysis of a YAC clone and cosmid clones which span the centromeric side of the HLA class II region, 8 new genes were identified. The HKE6 gene (alcohol dehydrogenase-like gene) was mapped on the 100 kb centromeric side of the HLA-DP subregion. The genomic sequence of a 42,801 bp long region encoded by one cosmid clone in the RING1, HKE6 and HKE4 subregions was determined by the shotgun method. The HKE6 gene is composed of eight exons-and seven introns with the same exon-intron organization as observed in the mouse Ke6 gene. The 25 kb region proximal to the RING1 gene includes an extensive dense cluster of Alu repeats (about 1.2 Alu per kb) and no gene has been identified in this so far. A 1.0-kb faint message from the HKE6 gene was detected in the kidney of PKD patients. In these patients, no large-scale deletion or translocation, was detected using genomic Southern hybridization analysis by the HKE6 cDNA insert as a probe. Additionally, no nucleotide deletion, insertion, or base replacement was detected by the direct sequencing of PCR products from 640-bp of the 5' upstream region and exon 1-4 regions in the HKE6 gene.
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