Cloning of a new member of the TGF-beta family: a putative new activin beta C chain.

The complete amino acid sequence of a new member of the TGF-beta superfamily has been determined through initial degenerate PCR, subsequent cloning and nucleotide sequencing of the human cDNA. Amino acid homology comparison among members of this superfamily suggests it to be a new member of the activin/inhibin subgroup. The proposed mature part of the precursor shows 53% amino acid identity to the activin beta B and 51% identity to the activin beta A chain whereas beta A and beta B show an identity of 64% to each other.