Human aminoacylase-1: cloning, regional assignment to distal chromosome 3p21.1, and identification of a cross-hybridizing sequence on chromosome 18.

Aminoacylase-1 (ACY1, EC 3.5.1.14) is a cytosolic enzyme with a wide range of tissue expression and has been postulated to function in the catabolism and salvage of acylated amino acids. ACY1 has been assigned to chromosome 3p21, a region reduced to homozygosity in small-cell lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma, and has been reported to exhibit reduced or absent expression in small-cell lung cancer cell lines and tumors. Using monoclonal antibodies to human ACY1, we have isolated cDNA clones from a liver lambda gt11 cDNA library. As proof of identity, the fusion protein encoded by a putative ACY1 cDNA displayed ACY1 enzymatic activity. Additionally, it was determined that the putative ACY1 cDNA clones hybridize to an EcoR1 restriction fragment that has been mapped to chromosome 3p. Both ACY1 activity and this restriction fragment have been further demonstrated to be syntenic to distal 3p21.1 through the use of a panel of human-rodent somatic cell hybrids containing fragments of chromosome 3. An additional EcoR1 restriction fragment to which the probe hybridizes has been assigned to chromosome 18. The major mRNA species to which the ACY1 cDNA hybridizes is 0.9 kb; faint hybridization to a 4.2-kb mRNA species is also detected. These studies further refine a region of interest in the investigation of gene inactivation in small-cell lung cancer and provide a new marker on chromosome 18.