Structure and size distribution of the androgen receptor mRNA in wild-type and Tfm/Y mutant mice

Complementary DNA clones covering the coding region of the mouse androgen receptor (AR) were assembled by enzymatic amplification from testicular RNA and genomic DNA. The deduced amino acid sequence consists of 899 residues and departs from the rat sequence at 21 positions, 20 of which are in the amino-terminal trans-activation domain. A notable cluster of substitutions lies in the region of the long glutamine repeat at positions 174-195. The size heterogeneity of AR messengers suggested by previous blot hybridization experiments was examined by RNase protection analysis of sucrose gradient-fractionated poly(A) RNA from mouse liver. A predominant 10-kilobase long mRNA species was found to encode the AR, and a 3' noncoding portion longer than 5 kilobases was demonstrated by internal cleavage with RNase-H, followed by blot hybridization with a 3' probe. The sensitivity afforded by the use of homologous RNA probes in solution hybridizations allowed the demonstration in Tfm/Y mutant mice of an AR mRNA that covers the entire coding region, but is present at 10- to 20-fold lower levels than in normal animals. The detection of significant amounts of receptor messenger revives earlier suggestions of an AR protein in Tfm/Y mice and indicates, at variance with other conclusions, that the expression of this mutant AR is affected at a post-transcriptional level.