Cloning and characterization of the non-catalytic heavy chain of mouse complement factor I gene: structure comparison with the human homologue

The gene sequence encoding the non-catalytic heavy chain of mouse complement factor I (mCFI) was cloned and its exon-intron organization and domain structure characterized. The genomic organization of mCFI differs in several aspects from its human homologue (hCFI). The intron sizes are remarkably different. Exons 2 and 4 in mCFI are larger than their counterparts in hCFI by 9 bp and 6 bp respectively. Whereas the diversity (D) region of hCFI is encoded by two exons (exon 7 or hD2 and exon 8 or hD4), this region in mCFI is encoded by three exons; exon 6A or mD1 (located at the 3'-end of the LDLr A2 domain), exon 7 or mD2 and exon 8, an extended exon (56 bp) composed of mD3, fused upstream of mD4. In contrast, hCFI lacks D1 and D3 subregions and exon 8 in hCFI consists of only hD4, 36 bp in length. Thus the heavy chain of mCFI is organized into 10 exons compared to 9 exons in hCFI.