The pro-alpha 1(V) collagen chain. Complete primary structure, distribution of expression, and comparison with the...

We have isolated overlapping cDNA clones from human and hamster libraries which comprise the entire coding sequences for the prepro-alpha 1(V) collagen chains of both species. The translated polypeptide has a signal peptide of 36 amino acids, a central triple helical domain of 338 uninterrupted Gly-X-Y triplets, and 266 amino acids which comprise the C-telopeptide and propeptide. The N-propeptide and telopeptide are comprised of 522 residues in humans and 524 residues in hamsters. The cDNA-derived pro-alpha 1(V) amino acid sequences exhibit a variety of structural features characteristic of fibrillar collagens. Pro-alpha 1(V) is found to be unique among fibrillar collagen chains, however, in lacking potential cross-linking lysyl residues in either telopeptide, and in possessing potential N-asparaginyl-linked carbohydrate attachment sites in its N-propeptide. Of particular interest is the strong homology found between the pro-alpha 1(V) and pro-alpha 1(XI) collagen chains in most domains, with the notable exception of a subdomain in the globular region of the N-propeptide. RNase protection analysis of RNA with a variety of pro-alpha 1(V) cDNA-derived riboprobes indicates a broad distribution of expression of the pro-alpha 1(V) chain in tissues and suggests that transcripts encoding the pro-alpha 1(V) chain and the putative pro-alpha 1'(V) chain are not products of the same gene.