Primary structures of bovine liver low molecular weight kininogen precursors and their two mRNAs

By using a mixture of synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides as a probe, cloned cDNA sequences specific for low molecular weight (LMW) kininogen have been isolated from a cDNA library of bovine liver mRNA sequences. Nucleotide sequence analyses of cloned cDNA inserts have revealed that bovine liver LMW kininogens are encoded by at least two very similar but distinct mRNAs. The corresponding amino acid sequences show that the LMW kininogen precursors of the two types, composed of 436 and 434 amino acid residues, both contain two internally homologous sequences in the amino-terminal portion between a signal peptide and a bradykinin moiety. The two mRNAs exhibit 15 nucleotide substitutions and 6 nucleotide deletions/additions in their protein-coding regions. The replacement of 13 amino acid residues and the deletions/additions of 2 amino acid residues in the two LMW kininogen precursors are all localized within the internally homologous regions, implying that these regions may be biologically significant in relation to the existence of two LMW kininogens. The nucleotide changes in the two mRNAs also occur in the limited portions that principally encode the internally homologous amino acid sequences. This suggests that the mRNAs are transcribed from the same gene to generate two LMW kininogen precursors differing only in the internally homologous sequences.