Identification and characterization of murine Brunol4, a new member of the elav/bruno family.

RNA-binding proteins are involved in post-transcriptional processes like mRNA stabilization, post-transcriptional modification, and transport and have been suggested to play an important role in developmental gene regulation. We report here the cloning and characterization of Brunol4, a novel mouse cDNA closely related to the elav-type family of genes encoding for RNA-binding proteins and a subfamily recently named after the bruno gene of Drosophila. Murine Brunol4 is localized near the centromere of chromosome 18. The cDNA sequence of Brunol4 is separated by 12 introns and the size of Brunol4 may be around 250 kb due to the large size of several introns. Brunol4 expression is detectable in the developing embryo and, later on becomes mainly restricted to cerebral structures, in particular the cerebellum where it persists in the adult organism. We predict a role of Brunol4 and the respective human homologue in differentiation and maintenance of neuronal structures.