PCR isolation and cloning of novel splice variant mRNAs from known drug target genes.

Incyte Corporation, 3160 Porter Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.

Alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs is an important mechanism for the generation of vertebrate protein diversity. Unfortunately, the contribution of alternative splicing to protein diversity is currently not well understood because many full-length mRNA sequences have yet to be identified. In this report, we describe the use of RT-PCR to identify and clone 279 novel alternatively spliced mRNAs from 114 well-known drug target genes. Our findings demonstrate the existence of many novel alternatively spliced mRNA transcripts and suggest that many more genes undergo functionally significant alternative splicing than previously thought.

PMID: 15028279 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]