Structure of the Mouse Calcitonin/Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Alpha and Beta Genes

Abstract

We report the cloning, genomic organization and sequence of the mouse α-CALC and β-CALC genes. The two genes share extensive sequence homology. The transcription units of both genes contain 6 exons. Transcripts of the α-CALC gene were found to alternatively include exon 4 or exons 5 and 6. For the β-CALC gene exon 4 was not detected in transcripts derived from this gene. The predicted mouse α-CGRP was found to be identical to rat α-CGRP, however, β-CGRP predicted amino acid sequences revealed three amino acid differences suggesting these residues are not critical to CGRP function.