The 5′-leader sequence of the EPO transcript includes a highly conserved uORF. (A) Nucleotide sequence alignment of the human (Homo sapiens), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), orangutan (Pongo abelii), common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), mouse (Mus musculus), and rat (Rattus norvegicus) EPO mRNA 5′-leader regions. The uORF sequences of the different species are framed, where the arrow indicates position of the upstream initiation AUG codon (in gray). The uORF termination codon (UGA or UAA), as well as the main EPO AUG codon (EPO initiation codon), is also shown in gray. The uORF and the intercistronic region lengths (in nucleotides) are indicated below. The percentage of homology relative to the human 5′-leader sequence and to the uORF is indicated on the right. (B) uORF-encoded amino acid sequence alignment of the human, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, common marmoset, mouse, and rat EPO transcripts. The conserved amino acids are indicated in gray.
