A cDNA encoding a putative 37 kDa leucine-rich repeat (LRR) protein, p37NB, isolated from S-type neuroblastoma cell has a differential tissue distribution.

In human neuroblastoma cells in culture, three morphologically distinct types of cells are observed: neuroblastic N-type cells, Schwannian S-type cells, and intermediate I-type cells. To investigate the differences in gene expression between N-type LA1-55N and S-type LA1-5S cells of the human neuroblastoma cell line LA-N-1, we constructed a subtractive cDNA library from LA1-5S cells. One of the genes that are expressed more in S-type cells than in N-type cells was identified as previously undescribed and is the focus of this report. We cloned a full-length cDNA of this gene, p37NB, and determined its sequence. A homology search against the GenBank database showed that this was from a novel gene encoding a putative 37 kDa leucine-rich repeat (LRR) protein. Northern blot hybridization and RT-PCR showed that the p37NB gene was differentially expressed in S-type compared to N-type cells of a few neuroblastoma cell lines.