Isolation of a sequence encoding human cystatin C. Conservation of exon-intron structure between members of the cysteine proteinase inhibitors superfamily.

The human cystatin C gene was cloned using a synthetic oligonucleotide predicted from a portion of its amino-acid sequence. The nucleotide sequence of the restriction fragment hybridizing with the oligonucleotide confirms the existence of one exon encoding amino acids 56-93 of human cystatin C and its relationship to kininogens. However the deduced amino-acid sequence differs in one position from the sequence of the cystatin C fragment deposited as amyloid fibrils in hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis of icelandic origin.