Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of a human 372-kDA protein localized in the Golgi complex.

Autoantibodies from a patient with chronic rheumatoid arthritis recognized an antigen localized in the Golgi complex of various cells from different tissues and species. The autoantibodies were used as a probe for screening human QGP-1 cDNA library, resulting in identification of a 10.3-kb cDNA. The cDNA insert contained an open reading frame which encodes a 3225-residue protein with a calculated mass of 372 kDa. The predicted protein was found to have no NH2-terminal signal sequence but a single hydrophobic domain at the COOH terminus. These results indicate that the 372-kDa antigen is cytoplasmically disposed and anchored to the Golgi membrane by the COOH-terminal hydrophobic domain.