Genomic organization and chromosomal localization of the mouse synexin gene

We have isolated and characterized the gene encoding mouse synexin, which consists of 14 exons and spans approximately 30 kbp of genomic DNA. The protein's unique N-terminal domain is encoded by six exons, and the C-terminal tetrad repeat, the site of the membrane-fusion and ion-channel domain, is encoded by seven exons. The first exon encodes the 5'-untranslated region. Analysis of synexin-gene expression in different mouse tissues shows that mRNA with exon 6 is only present in brain, heart and skeletal muscle. mRNA lacking exon 6 is expressed in all tissues we have examined. The initiation site for transcription was determined by primer-extension analysis and S1 nuclease mapping. Sequence analysis of the 1.3 kb 5'-flanking region revealed that the promoter has a TATA box located at position -25 and a number of potential promoter and regulatory elements. A CCAAT motif was not observed but CCATT is located in an appropriate position for the CCAAT motif upstream from the transcription-initiation start site. In addition, the 5'-flanking region contains two sets of palindromic sequences. Finally, we have determined that the functional synexin gene (Anx7) is located on mouse chromosome 14 and that a pseudogene (Anx7-psl) is located on chromosome 10.