Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 334, Issue 3, 16 December 2002, Pages 206-210
Neuroscience Letters

Variation of variable number of tandem repeat sequences in the 3′-untranslated region of primate dopamine transporter genes that affects reporter gene expression

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(02)01125-4Get rights and content

Abstract

Genetic polymorphism has been reported in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of the human dopamine transporter (DAT) gene and the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism has been proposed to be associated with normal personal traits or psychoneurological disorders. To assess the variation of this region in nonhuman primates, we amplified the VNTR regions by the polymerase chain reaction in several species of apes and monkeys, and determined their DNA sequences. The 3′-UTR of the chimpanzee DAT gene was also polymorphic and alleles with one or two unit(s) of a 40 bp sequence were found, while all gorillas and orangutans examined had only 2-repeat allele. Cynomolgus macaques and African green monkeys shared 11- or 12-repeat and 5-repeat alleles, respectively. By performing transient transfection assay, we found that most of the VNTR sequences of nonhuman primates exhibited higher activities on reporter gene assay as compared to those of human 9-, 10- and 11-repeat sequences.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded in part by Grants-in-Aid for Human Science and Longevity Science from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Cooperation Research Program of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 13740427) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (BRAIN), Japan.

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