Cloning of the gp49B gene of the immunoglobulin superfamily and demonstration that one of its two products is an early-expressed mast cell surface protein originally described as gp49.

gp49 was originally defined as a 49-kDa surface glycoprotein preferentially expressed on mouse interleukin-3-dependent, bone marrow-derived mast cells, which are immature progenitor cells. A previously cloned cDNA (gp49A) indicated that gp49 was a member of the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily, and genomic DNA analysis indicated that two genes might encode a gp49 family. We have now characterized a 5.6-kilobase pair gene, gp49B, that encodes two novel gp49 cDNAs, gp49B1 and gp49B2. The two cDNAs are identical except that gp49B2 is missing exon 6, which encodes a predicted transmembrane domain. In contrast to gp49A, gp49B1 and gp49B2 have 32 additional amino acids at their C termini containing 4 of the 6 consensus amino acids of the antigen receptor homology 1 motif found on several signal-transducing members of the Ig superfamily. When COS-7 cells were transfected with either the gp49B1 or gp49B2 cDNA, only the gp49B1 transfectants bound the B23.1 monoclonal antibody that originally defined gp49. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis of the transfectants established that both transcripts were expressed, suggesting that the product of the gp49B2 transcript was not inserted in the plasma membrane. Thus, cloning of the gp49B gene has established the organization of one of the gp49 genes and provided evidence of alternate splicing of transcripts from that gene.