The International Journal of Developmental Biology

Int. J. Dev. Biol. 42: 23 - 32 (1998)

Vol 42, Issue 1

Stra3/lefty, a retinoic acid-inducible novel member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily

Published: 15 January 1998

M Oulad-Abdelghani, C Chazaud, P Bouillet, M G Mattei, P Dollé and P Chambon

Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS/INSERM/ULP, Collège de France, Illkirch, C.U. de Strasbourg.

Abstract

We report the structure, chromosomal localization and expression features of Stra3, a novel mouse gene whose expression is upregulated by retinoic acid in P19 embryonal carcinoma cells. The Stra3 cDNA sequence, which encodes a novel member of the TGF-beta superfamily, corresponds to, but extends more 3' than the recently published lefty sequence (Meno et al., 1996, Nature 381:151-155). The Stra3/lefty protein, which exhibits characteristics of secreted proteins, is synthesized as a precursor of 42 kDa and secreted after cleavage, suggesting that it may function as an intercellular signaling molecule. There are four exons in the Stra3/lefty gene and its 5' flanking region contains, among other putative regulatory elements, an unusual retinoid response element consisting of two half sites arranged as a palindrome, with an 8 base pairs spacer. We also show that Stra3/lefty is ectopically induced in the endodermal and ectodermal layers following in vivo administration of retinoic acid to gastrulating mouse embryos.

Full text in web format is not available for this article. Please download the PDF version.