Microsomal GST-I: genomic organization, expression, and alternative splicing of the human gene

In this paper we report the genomic organization of the human microsomal GST-I gene. This gene spans 18 kb, and contains seven exons. Sequences that encode the 155 amino acid open reading frame are present in Exons II, III, IV, the 5'-untranslated region is present in Exons Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, and II, and the 3'-untranslated region is present in Exon IV. Exons Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, and III are alternatively spliced to generate at least six different mGST-I transcripts. The results of EST and PCR analysis show that most mGST-I transcripts terminate within Exon Ib, and primer extension analysis shows these transcripts initiate at three major sites located at 79, 81, and 88 nucleotides upstream of the ATG initiation codon. Sequences surrounding the putative initiation sites are G-C rich, and several Sp1 consensus binding sites were identified. Northern analysis shows that the human GST-I gene is preferentially expressed as a 1.0 kb transcript in liver, and in several other tissues. Finally, a comparison of the mGST-I and PIG12 sequences with those of FLAP, LTC4 synthase, mGST-II, and mGST-III suggests that these proteins are the related products of a dispersed microsomal GST gene superfamily.