Allantoicase (ALLC)

Allantoicase (EC 3.5.3.4) participates in the uric acid degradation pathway. Its enzymatic activity, like that of urate oxidase, was lost during vertebrate evolution.

Vigetti et al. (2000) cloned the first vertebrate cDNA of allantoicase (ALLC) from the amphibian Xenopus laevis and found that its sequence showed high homology with the sequences of allantoicase in yeast. Using the sequence of the Xenopus cDNA, Vigetti et al. (2000) isolated a human ALLC cDNA from a fetal spleen cDNA library and an adult kidney EST clone. RT-PCR analysis on a panel of 7 human tissues detected an ALLC transcript in testis and, with a weaker signal, in prostate. Northern blot analysis detected a 1.8-kb signal in testis only.