Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel human BTBD8 gene containing double BTB/POZ domains.

BTB/POZ domain is an evolutionarily conserved protein-protein interaction domain often found in developmentally regulated transcription factors. Previous studies have shown that many additional conserved motifs have been found in association with BTB/POZ domain, including kelch repeats, zinc finger domains, FYVE fingers and ankyrin repeats. Here we report a novel human gene containing double BTB/POZ domains, named BTBD8 in agreement with the HUGO Nomenclature Committee. The cDNA sequence contains an open reading frame of 918 bp encoding a putative protein of 305 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 34.6 kDa. Protein pattern analysis shows that it contains double BTB/POZ domains. Weak expression was detected in adult brain and prostate of the 16 adult tissues examined, while it had a more abundant expression pattern in human fetal brain. The expression pattern of BTBD8 shows it may have a function related to brain development.