Structure of rat annexin V gene and molecular diversity of its transcripts

We report here the isolation and characterization of the entire rat annexin V gene, which is shown to span about 40 kbp, and to consist of 14 exons, 13 introns and two promoters. Previous studies found that both human and chicken annexin V genes bear 13 exons and one promoter, which possess no TATA sequence or CCAAT box, and have a high GC content. In the present study, we found that one of the promoters for rat annexin V shares these features, which are typical among promoters for housekeeping genes, and that this promoter, as expected, exerted its transcription in all of tissues we examined. In contrast, another promoter was found to possess not only a TATA box but also a glucocorticoid-responsive element, and was shown to express messages in a relatively limited number of tissues, including brain. We also demonstrated the presence of at least four species of rat annexin V transcripts that were generated by distinct transcription initiation and alternative splicing.