The pregnancy-specific glycoprotein (PSG) gene cluster on human chromosome 19: fine structure of the 11 PSG genes and identification of 6 new genes forming a third subgroup within the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family

• Published in: Genomics (San Diego, Calif.) Vol. 23; no. 3; p. 669
• Main Authors: Teglund, S, Olsen, A, Khan, W N, Frängsmyr, L, Hammarström, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-10-1994
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Base Sequence; Carcinoembryonic Antigen - genetics; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 19; Cosmids; DNA Primers; Exons; Gene Library; Hominidae - genetics; Humans; Introns; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; Oligonucleotide Probes; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Pregnancy Proteins - genetics; Pseudogenes; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; Restriction Mapping; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
• ISSN: 0888-7543
• DOI: 10.1006/geno.1994.1556

The human pregnancy-specific glycoprotein (PSG) genes belong to the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family, which in turn is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. We have analyzed a 700-kb cosmid contig spanning the PSG region on chromosome 19q13.2. The region contains 11 closely related PSG genes organized in tandem with a highly conserved structure and organization. Seven novel genes (CGM12 to CGM18) were found in the PSG region. CGM12 belongs to the CEA subgroup and appears to be a pseudogene. CGM13 to CGM18 forms a third new subgroup within the CEA gene family. The members of this new subgroup show 94-99% identity to each other but only 70-80% to other members of either the CEA or the PSG subgroups. They are composed of exons encoding two IgC-like domains and short hydrophilic carboxyl terminals similar to those of the PSGs. Unlike any of the known CEA family genes, however, they seem to lack the exon for an IgV-like N-terminal domain.