Chestkov A V, Baka I D, Kost M V, Georgiev G P, Buchman V L
Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov Str. 32, Moscow, 117984, Russia.
Genomics. 1996 Aug 15;36(1):174-7. doi: 10.1006/geno.1996.0440.
The d4 domain, a novel zinc finger-like structural motif, was first revealed in the rat neuro-d4 protein. Here we demonstrate that the d4 domain is conserved in evolution and that three related genes form a d4 family in the human genome. The human neuro-d4 is very similar to rat neuro-d4 at both the amino acid and the nucleotide levels. Moreover, the same splice variants have been detected among rat and human neuro-d4 transcripts. This gene has been localized on chromosome 19, and two other genes, members of the d4 family isolated by screening of the human genomic library at low stringency, have been mapped to chromosomes 11 and 14. The gene on chromosome 11 is the homolog of the ubiquitously expressed mouse gene ubi-d4/requiem, which is required for cell death after deprivation of trophic factors. A gene with a conserved d4 domain has been found in the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The conservation of d4 proteins from nematodes to vertebrates suggests that they have a general importance, but a diversity of d4 proteins expressed in vertebrate nervous systems suggests that some family members have special functions.
d4结构域是一种新型的类锌指结构基序，最初在大鼠神经d4蛋白中被发现。在此我们证明，d4结构域在进化过程中是保守的，并且在人类基因组中三个相关基因构成了一个d4家族。人类神经d4在氨基酸和核苷酸水平上都与大鼠神经d4非常相似。此外，在大鼠和人类神经d4转录本中检测到相同的剪接变体。该基因已定位在19号染色体上，通过低严谨度筛选人类基因组文库分离出的d4家族的另外两个基因成员已被定位到11号和14号染色体上。11号染色体上的基因是普遍表达的小鼠基因ubi-d4/requiem的同源物，该基因在营养因子剥夺后细胞死亡过程中是必需的。在线虫秀丽隐杆线虫的基因组中发现了一个具有保守d4结构域的基因。从线虫到脊椎动物d4蛋白的保守性表明它们具有普遍重要性，但在脊椎动物神经系统中表达的d4蛋白的多样性表明一些家族成员具有特殊功能。
