Characterization of a new mRNA species from the human histamine N-methyltransferase gene.
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Barnes WG, Grinde E, Crawford DR, Herrick-Davis K, Hough LB
Characterization of a new mRNA species from the human histamine N-methyltransferase gene.
Genomics. 2004 Jan;83(1):168-71.
- PubMed ID
- 14667820 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Histamine N-methyltransferase (HNMT), a cytosolic histamine-metabolizing enzyme, is the only known product of the 50-kb human HNMT. Here, a detailed investigation of HNMT products revealed the existence of a new brain mRNA product of HNMT. This species, named HNMT-Short (HNMT-S), encodes a 126-amino-acid protein. Northern blot analysis detected HNMT-S mRNA (1.0 kb) in placenta, but not in several other human tissues. In addition, unlike the known HNMT cDNA, HNMT-S cDNA did not result in histamine-methylating activity after transfection into COS-7 cells. These studies show that HNMT-S is a new mRNA species and putative protein product from HNMT. The physiological role of HNMT-S remains to be investigated.