Genomic organization and polymorphism of human angiotensin II type 2 receptor: no evidence for its gene mutation in two families of human premature ovarian failure syndrome.

Angiotensin II type 2 (AT(2)) receptor is highly expressed in the fetal tissues and decreases rapidly after birth. AT(2) receptor is re-expressed in the adult atretic ovarian follicles. Recently, it has been reported that AT(2) receptor mediates apoptosis. Primarily, we have cloned human AT(2) receptor cDNA and mapped it to the X-chromosome. To further analyze the organization and function of the AT(2) receptor gene, in this study we cloned the human AT(2) receptor genomic DNA. Human AT(2) receptor gene is composed of three exons and two introns. Primer extension analysis revealed a putative transcription initiation site at 24 bp downstream from TATA box. Furthermore, we identified a polymorphism (C-A) in 3' untranslated region of exon 3, which may be a useful genetic marker for genetic analysis of human X-linked inherited disease. In this study, we postulated that the patients with premature ovarian failure, which has been reported to be linked with X-chromosome abnormality, have AT(2) receptor mutation that may contribute to the early onset of atresia. We examined the entire coding sequence of this receptor in two different families of sisters with premature ovarian failure (POF) but found no changes in nucleotide sequences.