Opossum carboxylesterases: sequences, phylogeny and evidence for CES gene duplication events predating the marsupial-eutherian common ancestor.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Carboxylesterases (CES) perform diverse metabolic roles in mammalian organisms in the detoxification of a broad range of drugs and xenobiotics and may also serve in specific roles in lipid, cholesterol, pheromone and lung surfactant metabolism. Five CES families have been reported in mammals with human CES1 and CES2 the most extensively studied. Here we describe the genetics, expression and phylogeny of CES isozymes in the opossum and report on the sequences and locations of CES1, CES2 and CES6 'like' genes within two gene clusters on chromosome one. We also discuss the likely sequence of gene duplication events generating multiple CES genes during vertebrate evolution.

Results

We report a cDNA sequence for an opossum CES and present evidence for CES1 and CES2 lik

SUBMITTER: Holmes RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2266714 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature