Abstract
We have recently cloned two different human relaxin gene sequences. One of these (H1) was isolated from a human genomic clone bank and the other (H2) from a cDNA library prepared from human pregnant ovarian tissue. Southern gel analysis of the relaxin genes within the genomes of several unrelated individuals showed that all genomes contained both relaxin genes. Hence it is unlikely (p less than 0.001) that the two relaxin gene sequences are alleles. Rather, it is probable that there are two relaxin genes within the human genome. It is likely that relaxin and insulin genes have evolved from a common ancestral gene by gene duplication, since structural similarities between insulin and relaxin are evident at both the peptide and gene level. To investigate the evolutionary relationship between the two human relaxin genes and the insulin gene, we have determined the chromosomal position of the relaxin genes using mouse/human cell hybrids. We found that the human insulin and relaxin genes are on different chromosomes. Both human relaxin genes are located on the short arm region of chromosome 9.