cDNA cloning of porcine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

Porcine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) cDNA was cloned by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. A coding sequence of the porcine GM-CSF precursor protein, including the signal peptide sequence and stop codon, is 435 bp in length. The identities of the porcine GM-CSF coding sequence when compared to ovine, bovine, human and murine sequences were 89, 86, 83 and 70% at the nucleotide level, and 80, 74, 73, and 56% at the amino acid level. The hydrophobicity profiles, putative glycosylation sites and positions of cysteine residues were highly conserved in porcine, ovine, bovine and human GM-CSF but not murine. This is the first report of the porcine GM-CSF cDNA cloning and sequence.