Assignment of structural gene for asparagine synthetase to human chromosome 7

Abstract

Somatic cell hybrids obtained from the fusion of human B lymphocytes and an asparagine synthetase-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cell line were isolated after growth in asparagine-free medium. The human and hamster forms of asparagine synthetase differ significantly in their rate of inactivation at 47.5° C. The asparagine synthetase activity expressed in the hybrids was inactivated at 47.5° C at the same rate as the human form of the enzyme. Karyotypic analysis and analysis for chromosome-specific enzyme markers showed that the structural gene for asparagine synthetase is located on chromosome 7 in humans. The heat-inactivation profile for asparagine synthetase in extracts of hybrids formed between human peripheral leukocytes and a hamster cell line expressing asparagine synthetase activity was intermediate between the two parental types when human chromosome 7 was present, but was identical to the hamster parent when chromosome 7 was absent.