The Genomic Structure of the Human Charcot–Leyden Crystal Protein Gene Is Analogous to Those of the Galectin Genes

The Charcot–Leyden crystal (CLC) protein, or eosinophil lysophospholipase, is a characteristic protein of human eosinophils and basophils; recent work has demonstrated that the CLC protein is both structurally and functionally related to the galectin family of β-galactoside binding proteins. The galectins as a group share a number of features in common, including a linear ligand binding site encoded on a single exon. In this work, we demonstrate that the intron–exon structure of the gene encoding CLC is analogous to those encoding the galectins. The coding sequence of the CLC gene is divided into four exons, with the entire β-galactoside binding site encoded by exon III. We have isolated CLC β-galactoside binding sites from both orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and murine (Mus musculus) genomic DNAs, both encoded on single exons, and noted conservation of the amino acids shown to interact directly with the β-galactoside ligand. The most likely interpretation of these results suggests the occurrence of one or more exon duplication and insertion events, resulting in the distribution of this lectin domain to CLC as well as to the multiple galectin genes.