ALTERNATIVE SPLICING OF A PREVIOUSLY UNIDENTIFIED CFTR EXON INTRODUCES AN IN-FRAME STOP CODON 5' OF THE R-REGION

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) has been extensively characterized as the carrier of the basic defect in cystic fibrosis. CFTR is part of a growing family of proteins encoded by a single gene, the variant isoforms of which are generated by alternative splicing or RNA editing. We have analyzed the CFTR mRNA in the region of exons 10-11 in T84 cells and detected an alternatively spliced exon (10b) accounting for about 5% of the CFTR mRNA. The exon 10b found in both the human and mice genomes, introduces an in-frame stop codon. The resulting mRNA is translated into a truncated CFTR protein, identified in T84 cells by immunoprecipitation with the CFTR-specific monoclonal antibody MATG 1061. The insertion of a differentially spliced exon carrying an in-frame stop codon is a novel cellular mechanism for the production of a protein sharing common sequences with another, but having different properties and functions.