ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A CYTOSOLIC ALDEHYDE DEHYDROGENASE-ENCODING CDNA FROM MOUSE-LIVER

A series of overlapping cDNA clones encoding AHD-2, the constitutive liver cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase of the mouse, were isolated from gamma-gt11 libraries by screening with antibody and hybridization probes. Together, these clones span 2036 bp, virtually the entire Ahd-2 transcript. The protein corresponding to the cDNA contains 501 amino acids (aa) with a predicted M(r) of 54467. The aa sequence is 87% and 84% identical to liver cytosolic AHDs of human and horse, respectively. Major and minor transcription start points (tsp), located 43 and 44 bp upstream from the ATG codon, respectively, were identified by primer extension analysis. The sequence of a 700-bp genomic fragment containing the first exon and 546 bp of 5'-flanking DNA was determined. TATA and CCAAT motifs are located 31 and 73 bp, respectively, from the major tsp.