RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Mouse surfactant protein-D. cDNA cloning, characterization, and gene localization to chromosome 14. JF The Journal of Immunology JO J. Immunol. FD American Association of Immunologists SP 5671 OP 5677 VO 155 IS 12 A1 Motwani, M A1 White, R A A1 Guo, N A1 Dowler, L L A1 Tauber, A I A1 Sastry, K N YR 1995 UL http://www.jimmunol.org/content/155/12/5671.abstract AB Surfactant protein-D (SP-D) is a collectin found associated with surfactant in the lung. SP-D has also been functionally characterized as an opsonin for diverse microorganisms and a chemoattractant for phagocytic cells. To determine the structure of mouse SP-D, we isolated and characterized clones from a B6/CBAF1J strain lung cDNA library using a PCR-derived genomic probe. The deduced sequence predicts a 19-amino acid signal sequence, a 25-amino acid long NH2 terminus with two cysteines, followed by an uninterrupted collagen domain with 59 Gly-X-Y repeats. Next, a short "neck" domain of 28 amino acids, with a potential to form trimeric alpha-helical coiled coil is found ending in a COOH-terminal 125-amino acid carbohydrate recognition domain. The mature mouse SP-D protein of 355 amino acids shows strong homology to rat (92% identity), human (76%), and bovine (72%) SP-D amino acid sequences. Northern blot and RT-PCR analysis revealed that the mouse SP-D gene is expressed predominantly in lung and, surprisingly, also in heart, stomach, and kidney but not in brain. In contrast, mouse surfactant protein-A (SP-A) mRNA expression was found to be restricted to lung. Human lung and stomach, but not heart or liver, were found to express SP-D mRNA, as determined by PCR. The mouse SP-D gene (Sftp4) has been localized to chromosome 14 (to a region syntenic to human chromosome 10), closely linked to the genes for other collagenous lectins, mannose-binding protein-A (MbI1), and SP-A (Sftp1).