Genomic organisation and tissue specific expression of ABLIM2 gene in human, mouse and rat

The exon-intron structures of the human, rat and mouse ABLIM2 gene were determined in silico. The experimental verification resulted in the revealing of two mRNA isoforms of the ABLIM2 gene. The isoforms a and b contained 20 exons and 18 exons, respectively. The highest expression of both isoforms was observed in rat brain and eye and in mouse embryos. The 5′-UTR region of the ABLIM2 gene was 127 bp in rat and mouse, but in human, it was 65 bp. The site of polyadenylation was shown to be present at a distance of 682 bp from the stop-codon in human and rat and 684 bp in mouse. The in silico analysis of the gene 5′-region was performed. The high density of brain and CNS specific transcription factors' binding sites in the promoter region was shown for all three organisms. The comparison of the amino acid sequences of the human ABLIM2 and ABLIM1 proteins showed that the number and arrangement of domains (four LIM-domains in the N-end region and the C-end VHP-domain) were similar. The structure of the ABLIM2 proteins was similar in all three organisms. On the basis of our data, it was assumed that the ABLIM2 protein was necessary for the normal functioning of neurons.