pVHL19 is a biologically active product of the von Hippel–Lindau gene arising from internal translation initiation

O Iliopoulos, M Ohh… - Proceedings of the …, 1998 - National Acad Sciences
O Iliopoulos, M Ohh, WG Kaelin Jr
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1998National Acad Sciences
The von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) gene encodes a protein consisting of 213 amino acid
residues with an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa (pVHL30). Here we show that cells
also produce a VHL protein (pVHL19) that appears to arise as a result of internal translation
from the second methionine within the VHL ORF. pVHL30 resides primarily in the cytosol,
with less amounts found in the nucleus or associated with cell membranes. In contrast
pVHL19, in biochemical fractionation experiments, is equally distributed between the …
The von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) gene encodes a protein consisting of 213 amino acid residues with an apparent molecular mass of 30 kDa (pVHL30). Here we show that cells also produce a VHL protein (pVHL19) that appears to arise as a result of internal translation from the second methionine within the VHL ORF. pVHL30 resides primarily in the cytosol, with less amounts found in the nucleus or associated with cell membranes. In contrast pVHL19, in biochemical fractionation experiments, is equally distributed between the nucleus and cytosol and is not found in association with membranes. pVHL19, like pVHL30, can bind to elongin B, elongin C, and Hs-Cul2 in coimmunoprecipitation assays and can inhibit the production of hypoxia-inducible proteins such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and GLUT1 when reintroduced into renal carcinoma cells that lack a wild-type VHL allele. Thus, cells contain two biologically active VHL gene products.
National Acad Sciences