K-sam gene encodes secreted as well as transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase.

K-sam was first identified as a gene amplified in the stomach cancer cell line KATO-III. The size of the major transcript of the K-sam gene was 3.5 kilobases in KATO-III cells, and we have previously shown that K-sam encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase that belongs to the heparin-binding growth factor receptor, or fibroblast growth factor receptor, gene family. The K-sam gene expresses multiple sizes of mRNAs in brain tissue, the immature teratoma cell line NCC-IT, and KATO-III. RNA blot analyses with a variety of K-sam probes indicate that there are at least four classes of K-sam mRNAs. Three types of K-sam cDNAs in addition to the previously reported type of K-sam cDNA were isolated, and their nucleotide sequences encode a full-length transmembrane receptor, a secreted receptor with a tyrosine kinase domain, and a secreted receptor without a tyrosine kinase domain.