An intronless gene encoding a poly(A) polymerase is specifically expressed in testis

Abstract

Previous work demonstrated that a single pre-mRNA could generate multiple forms of mammalian poly(A) polymerase mRNAs by alternative splicing or alternative polyadenylation. A cDNA encoding a testis-specific poly(A) polymerase was isolated in this study. The transcription level of Papt in testis of a 2,weeks old mouse was much lower than that of the general poly(A) polymerase gene, Pnp. However, the transcription ratio of Papt to Pap was reversed in testis of a 4 weeks old mouse. Transient expression analysis showed that GFP-Papt fusion protein is present both in the nucleus and cytoplasm of HeLa cells. These results suggest that Papt is involved in polyadenylation of transcripts expressed during spermatogenesis. (C) 2000 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.