Molecular Cloning of cDNA for Human Placental Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase and Decreased Expression of its Gene during Retinoic Acid-Induced Granulocytic Differentiation of HL-60 Cells

Poly(ADP-ribose) is suggested to be involved in various physiological phenomena, such as DNA repair, sister chromatid exchanges, differentiation, proliferation and transformation of eukaryotic cells (1). To find a means of clarifying the biological function of poly(ADP-ribose), we purified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase from human placenta. We also isolated the cDNA for poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and determined the nucleotide sequence. Using the cDNA probe we found a decrease in the amount of transcript for the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase gene during the retinoic acid-induced granulocytic differentiation of HL-60 cells.