Characterization of a rat airway cDNA encoding a mucin-like protein

The purpose of this study was to isolate airway mucin cDNAs for use in studies of mucin biosynthesis in rat models of human airway disease. To this end, we screened a rat airway cDNA library with the human intestinal mucin cDNA SMUC 41 and obtained 7 positive clones. Preliminary characterization of each of these led us to focus on the clone expressing the 390 bp cDNA RAM 7s. Evidence indicating that RAM 7s encodes part of a rat airway mucin gene is that RAM 7s: (a) hybridizes in plaque lifts to SMUC 41, (b) hybridizes in Northern blots to large, polydisperse transcripts, (c) has a sequence encoding threonine-rich tandem repeats and (d) shows appropriate tissue-specific expression of cognate mRNA. The repetitive peptide encoded by RAM 7s includes five copies of the consensus sequence TTTTIITI. Because this sequence is different from those reported for two cDNAs previously isolated from rat intestinal libraries, we tentatively conclude that RAM 7s encodes part of a previously unidentified rat mucin gene.