Jumonji, AT-rich interactive domain 1C （JARID1C） protein belongs to the highly conserved ARID protein family, which is involved in chromatin remodeling and transcriptional regulation during cell growth, differentiation, and development. In humans, this gene plays a vital role in normal brain development and function. Using an in silico approach in combination with 5＇ rapid amplification of cDNA ends （5＇ RACE）, the full-length cDNA of JARIDIC （GenBank accession No. EF139241） from porcine ovary, which contains 5,908 bp nucleotides, with an open reading frame （ORF） of 4,548 bp, has been cloned. The putative porcine JARID 1C protein, which is located in the nucleus, encodes 1,516 amino acids with a molecular weight of 170 kDa and a pI of 5.44. Bioinformatic prediction indicates that the protein contains several conserved domains： a JmjN domain, an ARID domain, a JmjC domain, a C5HC2 zinc finger domain, and a PHD zinc finger domain. Similarity comparisons for nucleic and amino acid sequences reveal that the porcine JARID1C protein shares a high identity with its dog, mouse, rat, and human counterparts. The phylogenetic tree of the JARID1 subfamily proteins has been constructed to reveal the evolutionary relationship of various species. Real-time PCR analysis shows that the JARIDIC gene is expressed in various tissues, but at different levels. The expression levels of this gene are higher in the brain and gonad than in other tissues, suggesting that the JARID1C protein plays a role in porcine brain and gonad functions.
The procedure of somatic cell nuclear transfer （SCNT） is likely to affect the expression level of growth-related genes especially imprinting genes. In this study, expressions of growth-related genes including three imprinting genes （H19, IGF2, and IGF2R） and four non-imprinting genes （IGF1, IGFIR, GHR, and GHSR） in adult nuclear transferred （NT） goats were investigated by real-time PCR. The expressions of these genes in adult clones were found largely normal, but IGF2R and IGFIR were more highly expressed in cloned goats than in non-NT goats （P 〈 0.01）. Analysis on mono-allelic expression pattern of imprinting genes indicated that mono-allelic expression patterns of H19 and IGF2 in cloned goats were similar to that in non-NT goats. In addition, the sequence of goat IGF2 gene and the putative amino acid sequence were obtained. The 986 nucleotide cDNA of goat IGF2 gene contained an open-reading frame of 540 nucleotides coding for 179 amino acids. Both cDNA sequence and amino acid sequence of IGF2 in goat showed their higher homology with that in sheep than in cattle; the partial cDNA fragments of H19, IGF2R, GHSR, IGFIR, and GHR in goat were also cloned and sequenced, which shared higher sequence identities with those in sheep than in cattle.
