Sequence analysis of elastin cDNA from chick aorta and tissue-specific transcription of the elastin gene in developing chick embryo.

A portion of elastin cDNA with a size of 1.5 kilobase pairs (kb) was cloned from chick aorta. Sequence analysis revealed that the cDNA consists of 0.9 kb of coding region and 0.6 kb of 3'-untranslatable region. The primary structure of the peptide deduced from the coding sequence exhibited a strong homology with the published data from sheep and bovine elastin cDNA. The abundance of elastin mRNA in the aorta and skin was studied in developing chick embryo by Northern analysis using the cDNA as a probe. The elastin mRNA level in the aorta gradually decreased in the late half of development, while the elastin mRNA level in the skin was dramatically elevated between the 18th and 21st days. These results strongly suggest that the transcription of the elastin gene was controlled specifically in the respective organ during development.