cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of cat and dog Cdkal1

DNA cloning and mRNA expression of cat and dog Cdkal1 Original Research (1425) Total Article Views Authors: Yamamoto I, Ishikawa S, Gebin L, Takemitsu H, Fujiwara M, Mori N, Hatano Y, Suzuki T, Mori A, Nakao N, Kawasumi K, Sako T, Arai T Published Date August 2012 Volume 2012:3 Pages 65 - 69 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/VMRR.S32540 Received: 28 May 2012 Accepted: 03 July 2012 Published: 13 August 2012 Ichiro Yamamoto, Shingo Ishikawa, Li Gebin, Hiroshi Takemitsu, Megumi Fujiwara, Nobuko Mori, Yutaka Hatano, Tomoko Suzuki, Akihiro Mori, Nobuhiro Nakao, Koh Kawasumi, Toshinori Sako, Toshiro Arai Laboratory of Veterinary Biochemistry, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, Tokyo, Japan Abstract: The cyclin-dependent kinase 5 regulatory subunit–associated protein 1–like 1 (CDKAL1) gene encodes methylthiotransferase, and the gene contains risk variants for type 2 diabetes in humans. In this study, we performed complementary DNA cloning for Cdkal1 in the cat and dog and characterized the tissue expression profiles of its messenger RNA. Cat and dog Cdkal1 complementary DNA encoded 576 and 578 amino acids, showing very high sequence homology to mammalian CDKAL1 (>88.4%). Real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that Cdkal1 messenger RNA is highly expressed in smooth muscle and that tissue distribution of Cdkal1 is similar in cats and dogs. Genotyping analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphism for cat Cdkal1 revealed that obese cats had different tendencies from normal cats. These findings suggest that the cat and dog Cdkal1 gene is highly conserved among mammals and that cat Cdkal1 may be a candidate marker for genetic diagnosis of obesity.