Prostatic steroid binding protein: organisation of C1 and C2 genes

Prostatic steroid binding protein, whose expression is stimulated by androgens, consists of two subunits: one containing the polypeptides C1 and C3 and the other containing C2 and C3. We have characterised genomic clones containing the C1 and C2 genes by restriction enzyme analysis and DNA sequencing. Both genes are 3.2 Kb, have similar exon/intron arrangements and share considerable DNA sequence homologies in their coding regions, intervening sequences and 5' upstream DNA sequence which suggests that they have probably arisen from the duplication of an ancestral gene. The 5' termini of C1 and C2 mRNA have been mapped; the sequence TATAAA appears 30 nucleotides upstream but a CAAT-like sequence at -60 - -80 is absent. Finally, homologous human genes have not been detected.