Abstract
The enzymes responsible for the degradation of urate have been lost one by one during evolution. In order to study the inactivation of genes coding for these enzymes during evolution, we tried to isolate cDNAs for uricase. A full length-cDNA for rat liver uricase was isolated and nucleotide sequence was determined. The predicted amino acids sequence showed a polypeptide of 280 amino acids with a molecular weight of 32,226 daltons. The amino acids sequence deduced was compared with that of soybean nodulin uricase and nine highly homologous stretches of the two enzymes were found.
Then, we searched for the inactivated uricase-gene in chicken. A 35k daltons-protein cross-reacting with antibody against rat liver uricase was recognized in the homogenates of the embryo from 4 days to 12 days after the fertilization and disappeared after that time point. Therefore, chicken might express the enzyme at some stage of embryonic development.
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Ito, M., Nakamura, M. & Takagi, Y. 65 MOLECULAR GENETIC STUDIES ON URICASE AND ONE ASPECT OF ITS EVOLUTIONAL BEHAVIOR. Pediatr Res 24, 122 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198807000-00089
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198807000-00089
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