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J D Inglis

Publications and source records attributed to J D Inglis.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Degeneracy in human multicopy RBM (YRRM), a candidate spermatogenesis gene.

In order to search for mutations in the multicopy RBM genes that might be associated with male infertility, we have used sequence data from the reported cDNA clone to determine the intron exon boundaries of the YRRM 1 gene. This gene has 12 exons, three of which encode the putative RNA binding domain of the protein. Different copies of the gene contain sequence variations and, additionally, give rise to transcripts with different numbers of copies of the repeated SRGY motif. Since mutations in the RNA binding domain would seem likely to have an effect on the activity of the protein, we have scanned these exons for mutations by SSCP on DNA from normal and infertile men. Sequence differences in the exon encoding the N-terminal part of the RNA binding domain account for at least four different classes of the gene and give rise to different SSCP conformers. Sequence analysis shows that one of these classes is a pseudogene and that the members of another class are nonfunctional. RT-PCR shows that all classes are transcribed and that the A class is most abundant. We have found a point mutation that alters the highly conserved RNP2 motif in one infertile patient. This mutation is also found in his father. We have used PCR followed by SSCP analysis to map RBM on a Y Chromosome (Chr) YAC contig and have demonstrated a distribution that spans a major part of this chromosome's euchromatin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

A Y chromosome gene family with RNA-binding protein homology: candidates for the azoospermia factor AZF controlling human spermatogenesis.

We have previously mapped the human azoospermia factor to a deletion in Y chromosome interval 6 (subinterval XII-XIV). We now report the isolation and characterization of a gene family located within this deletion. Analysis of the predicted protein products suggests a possible role in RNA processing or translational control during early spermatogenesis. The Y chromosome RNA recognition motif (YRRM) family includes a minimum of three members expressed specifically in the testis. Interphase in situ results and Southern blot analysis indicate that several further YRRM sequences map within interval 6. Several mammalian species show Y chromosome conservation of YRRM sequences. We have detected deletions of YRRM sequences in two oligospermic patients with no previously detectable mutation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Neurologic disease induced in transgenic mice by cerebral overexpression of interleukin 6.

Cytokines are thought to be important mediators in physiologic and pathophysiologic processes affecting the central nervous system (CNS). To explore this hypothesis, transgenic mice were generated in which the cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6), under the regulatory control of the glial fibrillary acidic protein gene promoter, was overexpressed in the CNS. A number of transgenic founder mice and their offspring exhibited a neurologic syndrome the severity of which correlated with the levels of cerebral IL-6 expression. Transgenic mice with high levels of IL-6 expression developed severe neurologic disease characterized by runting, tremor, ataxia, and seizure. Neuropathologic manifestations included neuro-degeneration, astrocytosis, angiogenesis, and induction of acute-phase-protein production. These findings indicate that cytokines such as IL-6 can have a direct pathogenic role in inflammatory, infectious, and neurodegenerative CNS diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Isolation of two cDNAs encoding novel alpha 1-antichymotrypsin-like proteins in a murine chondrocytic cell line.

We have isolated two novel serpin-encoding sequences from EB22, a chondrocytic cell line derived from a mouse teratocarcinoma. Both sequences fall within the Spi-2 sub-family, and are related to the gene encoding human alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (ACT), a major acute-phase reactant. Considerable amplification of the Spi-2 gene family in the mouse has occurred, hindering the identification of a functional equivalent of the human gene. However, one of the sequences described here, EB22/4, exhibits several features which indicate that it may represent the physiological rodent equivalent of ACT. The sequence is expressed in the liver, as expected, and is induced several-fold during the acute-phase response. The P1 amino acid residue, which is primarily responsible for inhibitor specificity, is Met rather than the human Leu, most probably a functionally conservative substitution. Analysis of the orthologous sequence in related rodents demonstrates conservation of the predicted reactive centre-encoded specificity. The second isolated cDNA, EB22/3, encodes an unexpected Cys residue at the P1 position in the reactive centre, and represents a novel sub-class of the Spi-2 serine proteinase inhibitor (serpin)-encoding gene family. At least one of the sequences appears to be expressed at sites of skeletal deposition during the later stages of mouse foetal development, indicating a role for serpins during development.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1991

The murine Spi-2 proteinase inhibitor locus: a multigene family with a hypervariable reactive site domain.

We have isolated 10 closely linked members of a proteinase inhibitor multigene family from the inbred mouse strain 129. These sequences, termed the Serine Proteinase Inhibitor 2 (Spi-2) genes, appear to have been derived from a common ancestor represented in man by the single copy alpha 1-antichymotrypsin gene. The genes are clustered on two cloned genomic DNA segments spanning 220 kb, and have at least partially retained the intragenic structure of the ancestral Spi-2 gene. Sequence analysis from the final coding exon indicates that most of the mouse genes may be competent to encode functional proteins, some with a predictable inhibitory spectrum, and several representing novel inhibitor types. An oligonucleotide probe designed to one reactive centre sequence enabled the isolation of the cognate expressed transcript from a liver cDNA library. However, whether expressed or not, the reactive centre regions of all the sequences have diverged at a rapid rate relative to structurally defined flanking sequences. The divergence is also appreciably greater than that occurring in an adjacent non-coding sequence. This phenomenon has established novel potential inhibitory specificities, while maintaining a functional inhibitor structure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Selection for precise chromosomal targeting of a dominant marker by homologous recombination.

The antibiotic resistance gene neomycin phosphotransferase (neo) has been precisely targeted to a chromosomal region close to the cystic fibrosis (CF) locus on chromosome 7. The chromosomal target was the expressed SV40 array integrated at chromosome 7, band q31-q35 in a human-mouse hybrid cell line that contains chromosome 7 as the only human component. Stringent selection for neo expression by homologous recombination (3 of 11 correctly targeted) was achieved by fusing the SV40 large T antigen gene, in frame, to neo in a promoterless construct, such that G418 resistance depended on endogenous promoter function and read-through transcription. Chromosome-mediated gene transfer (CMGT) with G418 selection was then used generate mouse hybrids that carried the targeted locus intact, but retained only a fragment of human chromosome 7. This gene targeting strategy will access new regions of the human (or other mammalian) genome, create precise mutations efficiently by gene disruption, and potentially restore normal gene function by mutation correction.

Animals↗