Characterization of the human lipocortin-2-encoding multigene family: its structure suggests the existence of a short amino acid unit undergoing duplication.

Human genomic clones of the gene encoding lipocortin (LIP) 2 (p36) and of three pseudogenes have been isolated and characterized. The LIP2 gene is at least 40 kb long and consists of 13 exons. The three pseudogenes present typical features of retroposons and, together with the gene, probably represent the entire LIP2 multigene family. Chromosomal assignment of the four loci is proposed. The hypothesis that an ancestral unit coding for 15 to 20 amino acids may have been involved in the evolution of the gene is discussed.