Molecular cloning of cDNA sequences transcribed from mouse liver endoplasmic reticulum poly(A)mRNA

Poly(A)mRNA was isolated from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of male BALB/c mice and used as the template for cDNA synthesis. Double-stranded (ds) cDNA was cloned in a bacterial plasmid and 21 clones were selected for further study. Six clones have been identified by hybrid selection of mRNA, translation of the mRNA in a template-dependent system, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and specific immunoprecipitation. Four code for the major urinary protein of the mouse (MUP), one for serum albumin and one for alpha 1-antitrypsin. A seventh codes for an unidentified polypeptide with Mr = 27000. Initial-rate hybridisation kinetics of immobilised cloned sequences with end-labelled mRNA showed that serum albumin mRNA is most abundant in the population of mRNA species present in the endoplasmic reticulum fraction of female BALB/c liver. MUP mRNA is also very abundant. The alpha 1-antitrypsin mRNA and the mRNA specifying the 27000-dalton protein are about 5 times less abundant than serum albumin mRNA on a molar basis.