Amino acid sequence homology between rat alpha-fetoprotein and albumin at the COOH-terminal regions.

The nucleotide sequence of the 3'-terminal untranslated region and a portion of the coding region of rat alpha-fetoprotein mRNA has been determined from a cloned double-stranded cDNA. the amino acid sequence of the COOH-terminal portion of alpha-fetoprotein was inferred from the nucleotide sequence and compared to the amino acid sequence of the corresponding portion of rat, bovine, and human albumin. A striking homology in amino acid sequence between alpha-fetoprotein and albumin was observed. These results confirm earlier suggestions that the two proteins are closely related in structure and probably arose from a common ancestral gene.