An Unusual Nucleoporin-Related Messenger Ribonucleic Acid is Present in the Germ Cells of Rat Testis1

An mRNA with a substantial similarity to the rat p62 mRNA that encodes a nucleoporin was cloned from the rat testis. A probe derived from a unique sequence in the nucleoporin-related (NPR) cDNA revealed a novel mRNA of 1.3 kb, different from the 2.7-kb transcript attributed to the p62 gene. This 1.3-kb transcript was not detected in Sertoli cells; it was found primarily in the haploid germ cells of the adult testis. The DNA sequencing revealed that the central region of the NPR cDNA sequence was identical to the 3' portion of the p62 cDNA containing heptad repeat sequences. However, the 5' region and the extreme 3' region of the NPR cDNA sequence were different from the p62 cDNA. Interestingly, the extreme 3' untranslated region (UTR) contained a 212-bp inverted repeat of a sequence located in the middle of the NPR cDNA that is identical to the p62 sequence. The inverted repeats of the NPR sequence could potentially hybridize, leading to the formation of circular transcripts. Using antibodies specific for the C-terminal regions of p62, a 26-kDa protein was detected from NPR cDNA hybrid-arrested translational products, and a 28-kDa protein was detected from the testis germ cell extracts but not from Sertoli cell extracts.