Expression detection and partial cloning of porcine leptin receptor (OBR) gene

The product of the obesity gene, called leptin, is an important regulator of adiposity, which mainly functions via its regulation of feed intake and energy metabolism. Both obesity gene (ob gene) and leptin receptor gene ( OBR gene) are thought to play a major role in controlling of body fat mass as well as body weight. The result of RT-PCR shows that levels of pig OBRmRNA are higher in hypothalamus, lung and liver, and lower expression can be detected in other tissues. Total RNA purified from 11 different organs and tissues have been hybridized with pig OBR cDNA probes. The hybridization signals are shown in 7 organs and tissues. 4.1 and 3.8 kb bands were observed from hypothalamus, whereas 3.8 and 3.5 kb bands were observed in other tissues instead. The nearly complete sequence of the extracellular domain of pig OBR gene was obtained. The homology of sequence is 89.2% between pig and human, 80.3% between pig and mouse. Alignment of the predicted amino acid sequence of OBR in pig, human and mouse shows that the overall identity is 86.5% between pig and human, 76.6% between pig and mouse. Two WSXWS motifs were found at aa₃₁₃ and aa₆₁₆.