Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Visualization of Chondrocyte Intercalation and Directional Proliferation via Zebrabow Clonal Cell Analysis in the Embryonic Meckel’s Cartilage
Published on: October 21, 2015
Human Cart-1: structural organization, chromosomal localization, and functional analysis of a cartilage-specific
D F Gordon1, J Wagner, B L Atkinson
1Department of Medicine, University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center, Denver 80262, USA.
Abstract:
Homeoproteins control cell fates during development, specifying pattern formation and the ontogeny of specific tissues and organs in embryogenesis. Cart-1 cDNA was recently cloned from a rat chondrosarcoma tumor and it encodes a protein containing a paired-like homeodomain that is selectively expressed in cartilage during early chondrocyte differentiation. Here we report the molecular cloning of the human Cart-1 cDNA from a HeLa cervical carcinoma cDNA library. The human Cart-1 cDNA sequence is 88% identical and the deduced amino acid sequence is 95% identical to the rat sequence, indicating that Cart-1 structure is highly conserved. Northern and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis revealed Cart-1 mRNA expression in HeLa cervical carcinoma cells and human cervical tissue, but Cart-1 mRNA was not detected in GH3 rat pituitary cells and murine 10T1/2 one-half fibroblast cells. The Cart-1 gene was localized to human chromosome 12 and regionally mapped to the 12q21.3-q22 by PCR analysis of rodent-X-human somatic cell hybrid DNA and the CEPH megabase-insert YAC DNA pools, respectively. The Holt-Oram syndrome, characterized by upper limb and atrial septal dysplasias, also maps to the 12q21.3-q22 region. Cotransfection studies show that Cart-1 inhibits the rat prolactin promoter and that this repression is mediated by footprint II, an AT-rich element that functions as an inhibitory site of prolactin gene expression in nonpituitary cells and which was used to clone Cart-1. Taken together, these data indicate that Cart-1 may also influence cervix development, identify a putative DNA binding site for Cart-1, and, begin to define its functional role as modulator of gene expression.
Related Concept Videos
Karyotyping
Lampbrush Chromosomes
LBCs are made up of two pairs of conjugating homologous chromatids. Each chromatid consists of alternatively positioned regions of condensed-inactive chromatin and loosely placed-active side loops, which can be contracted and extended. The loops resemble the...
Histone Variants at the Centromere
Heterochromatin
Constitutive heterochromatin: It is a highly compact region of chromatin that is mostly concentrated in the centromere and telomere. Unlike euchromatin, the amino acid at 9th...
Growth of Cartilage and Bone Tissue
Structure of Cadherins

