[Cloning and expression of murine alpha1,2-fucosyltransferase gene]

MFUT-II, a DNA fragment encoding murine alpha1,2-fucosyltransferase,was cloned by RT-PCR. The open-reading frame was ligated into mammalian expression vector pcDNA 3.1 (pcDNA3.1-MFUT-II) and was transiently transfected into COS-7 cells using a Cellphect Transfection kit. Moreover, the expression of the gene in murine tissues was analyzed with Northern hybridization showing a 3.5-Kb mRNA transcript product in several tissues. The existence of MFUT-II was detected by Southern blot. MFUT-II was found to be a new member of the murine alpha1,2-FT gene family. Its open reading frame encoded 347 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 39.21 kDa and exhibited sequence homology with murine H & Sec1 gene. MFUT-II also exhibited sequence homology with Human Se gene (79.0%), Rat FTB gene (89.0%) and Rabbit FT-III gene (77.0%), respectively. COS-7 cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-MFUT- II showed alpha 1,2-fucosyltransferase activity. Southern analysis revealed that MFUT-II was present in the mouse genome as a single-copy gene. In conclusion, MFUT-II was a murine Se gene.