Human UDP-glucose dehydrogenase gene: complete cloning and transcription start mapping

UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) is an unique pathway enzyme, which furnishes in vertebrates the UDP-glucuronic acid for numerous transferases, including those of glycosaminoglycan synthesis and xenobiotics elimination. Using long and accurate PCR approach and searching the 5' cDNA-end sequences in public databases, we have cloned the human GDH gene. The gene contains 12 exons and spans over 26 kb. The first and eighth introns were not reported for mouse ortholog. Primer extension analysis identified the transcription start site 165 bases upstream from the translation initiation site. Most of the exons were interrupted on codon phase 0, confirming the conserved ancestral structure of the gene reported on the cDNA level.