Characterization of the porcine insulin-like growth factor-binding protein, acid-labile subunit gene: full-length cDNA and DNA sequence, polymorphisms and expression profile.

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein acid-labile subunit (IGFALS) is an important glycoprotein in the circulation complex for insulin-like growth factors-I and -II (IGFs). So far only a partial porcine IGFALS sequence is available. We herein report the isolation, characterization, polymorphism identification and expression analysis of the porcine IGFALS gene. A 2000-bp full-length cDNA sequence was determined with 5'- and 3'-Rapid Amplification of cDNA End (RACE) assay. It contains a 1821-bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 606 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 66 kDa and a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.89. The deduced IGFALS protein shares high identity (70-80%) with other mammalian IGFALS. We also obtained a full-length genomic DNA sequence of the gene. Similar to the other mammalian orthologues, particularly in terms of exon size and exon/intron boundaries, the porcine IGFALS gene spans a transcription unit of 2990 bp, consisting of two exons and one intron. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (synonymous mutations) were identified in the DNA sequence. RT-PCR assays indicate that IGFALS is expressed ubiquitously in pigs and transcripts are particularly abundant in the liver, lung, white adipose tissue, prostate, epididymis, thyroid and bladder.