Cloning and characterization of a novel deletion mutant of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein M4 from human dendritic cells

To identify differentially expressed genes from antigen-stimulated human dendritic cells (DC), subtractive cloning was adopted and more than ten novel genes differentially expressed were cloned. One is a deletion mutant of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) M4 in which the residues from 159 to 197 of hnRNP M4 have been absent. The deletion mutant was shown to be co-expressed with hnRNP M4 in cell lines. The mutant was expressed in antigen-stimulated DC but not in normal DC. Northern blot analysis revealed the presence of a major hnRNP M4 deletion mutant mRNA transcript of 2.4 kilobase with the highest levels in peripheral lymphocytes, lung, liver and spleen. It was also expressed in bone marrow-derived stromal cells (BMSC), BMSC treated with several cytokines but not in BMSC treated with TNF-a. The results revealed a new member of hnRNP family and suggested that hnRNP would participate in antigen process and presentation.