ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To acquire cDNA sequence of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) from tree shrew and analyze the sequence structure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The first strand cDNA was acquired by reverse transcription using mRNA from tree shrew liver as template. By the method of SMART RACE PCR, tree shrew LCAT cDNA was acquired and deduced its amino acids sequence. The sequence and structure of tree shrew LCAT cDNA and amino acid were analyzed and predicted by the molecular software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Tree shrew LCAT cDNA is composed of 1,340 bp, including 2 bp 5' untranslated region (5' UTR), 1,320 bp open reading frame (ORF) which encodes protein precursor of 440 amino acids (24 amino acids signal peptide and 416 amino acids mature peptide), and 18 bp 3' untranslated region (3'UTR). The stop codon is TAA and there is a poly (A) signal sequence AATAAA and a 25 bp poly (A) tail. Tree shrew LCAT cDNA sequence has been accepted by GenBank as a new gene, accession number AF272861 and its homology with human and baboon was 90% and 89%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The sequence of LCAT cDNA in tree shrew has high identity with that of human and other experimental animal species.</p>