文章基本信息

标题：Atypical expansion in mice of the sensory neuron-specific Mrg G protein-coupled receptor family
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作者：Mark J. Zylka ; Xinzhong Dong ; Amber L. Southwell 等
期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2003
卷号：100
期号：17
页码：10043-10048
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1732949100
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：The Mas-related genes (Mrgs) comprise a family of >50 G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), many of which are expressed in specific subsets of nociceptive sensory neurons in mice. In contrast, humans contain a related but nonorthologous family of genes, called MrgXs or sensory neuron-specific receptors, of which many fewer appear to be expressed in sensory neurons. To determine whether the diversity of murine Mrgs is generic to rodents or is an atypical feature of mice, we characterized MrgA, MrgB, MrgC, and MrgD subfamilies in rat and gerbil. Surprisingly, although mice have {approx}22 MrgA and {approx}14 MrgC genes, rats and gerbils have just a single MrgA and MrgC gene. This murine-specific expansion likely reflects recent retrotransposon-mediated unequal crossover events. The expression of Mrgs in rat sensory ganglia suggests that the extensive cellular diversity in mice can be simplified to a core subset of approximately four different genes (MrgA, MrgB, MrgC, and MrgD), defining a similar number of neuronal subpopulations. Our results suggest more generally that mouse-human genomic comparisons may sometimes reveal differences atypical of rodents.