IDENTIFICATION OF A GENE INDUCED BY GLUCOCORTICOIDS IN MURINE T-CELLS - A POTENTIAL-G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR

Using cDNA cloning techniques we previously identified a set of genes induced by glucocorticoids and cAMP in murine T-lymphocytes. We report here the sequence of one of these cDNA clones (clone 4.2), renamed here as glucocorticoid-induced receptor (GIR), which encodes a potential new member of the family of receptors that couple to G-proteins. Several different forms of cDNA for this gene were isolated and shown to correspond to multiple mRNA species in lymphoid cells using an RNase protection assay. The cDNA clone corresponding to the most abundant form of GIR mRNA encodes a precursor protein of 423 amino acids, with a putative signal peptide of 17 amino acids. A hydropathy plot reveals the presence of seven hydrophobic regions, with significant similarities to other G-protein-coupled receptors. The ligand for GIR is currently unknown, but the predicted protein product of this cDNA is most closely related to the three tachykinin receptors, the neuromedin-K, substance-P, and substance-K receptors.