Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access published online on February 27, 2009
Journal of Biochemistry, doi:10.1093/jb/mvp030
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Post-transcriptional regulation of the expression of ferrochelatase by its variant mRNA
1 Department of Biotechnology, and 2 Insect Biomedical Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto 606-8585 Japan
* Corresponding author, S. Taketani, Department of Biotechnology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto 606-8585 Japan, Phone/Fax No. 81-75-724-7789
Received January 27, 2009; Accepted February 17, 2009
| Abstract |
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Summary. Ferrochelatase (FECH) catalyzes the insertion of ferrous ions into protoporphyrin IX to produce heme at the heme-biosynthetic pathway. The present study characterized a variant mRNA of mouse FECH, which was generated by skipping exon II (FECH-v). FECH-v mRNA was expressed in various tissues, including the liver and kidney, of mice. The mRNA was also expressed in mouse and human non-erythroid and erythroid cells to a different extent but could not be translated into functional FECH. The ratio of FECH-v/FECH increased in hemin-treated Balb/3T3 cells while it decreased after treatment with succinylacetone, an inhibitor of heme biosynthesis, strongly suggesting that FECH expression was decreased by increasing the level of intracellular heme. These results demonstrated the heme-dependent negative feedback regulation of the expression of FECH at a post-transcriptional level.
Key Words: ferrochelatase, heme biosynthesis, hemin, mRNA variant, post-transcription