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l-Dopa decarboxylase expression profile in human cancer cells

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Abstract

l-Dopa decarboxylase (DDC) catalyses the decarboxylation of l-Dopa. It has been shown that the DDC gene undergoes alternative splicing within its 5′-untranslated region (UTR), in a tissue-specific manner, generating identical protein products. The employment of two alternative 5′UTRs is thought to be responsible for tissue-specific expression of the human DDC mRNA. In this study, we focused on the investigation of the nature of the mRNA expression in human cell lines of neural and non-neural origin. Our results show the expression of a neural-type DDC mRNA splice variant, lacking exon 3 in all cell lines studied. Co-expression of the full length non-neural DDC mRNA and the neural-type DDC splice variant lacking exon 3 was detected in all cell lines. The alternative DDC protein isoform, Alt-DDC, was detected in SH-SY5Y and HeLa cells. Our findings suggest that the human DDC gene undergoes complex processing, leading to the formation of multiple mRNA isoforms. The study of the significance of this phenomenon of multiple DDC mRNA isoforms could provide us with new information leading to the elucidation of the complex biological pathways that the human enzyme is involved in.

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Acknowledgements

This work represents part of the doctoral thesis of Ms Ioanna Chalatsa. This project was partially funded by the EPEAEK2/2003 grant from the Greek Ministry of Education.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15701, Athens, Greece

    Ioanna Chalatsa, Eleftheria Nikolouzou, Emmanuel G. Fragoulis & Dido Vassilacopoulou

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  1. Ioanna Chalatsa
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  2. Eleftheria Nikolouzou
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  3. Emmanuel G. Fragoulis
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  4. Dido Vassilacopoulou
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Correspondence to Dido Vassilacopoulou.

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Chalatsa, I., Nikolouzou, E., Fragoulis, E.G. et al. l-Dopa decarboxylase expression profile in human cancer cells. Mol Biol Rep 38, 1005–1011 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-010-0196-x

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