CDNA CLONING AND CHROMOSOMAL LOCALIZATION OF THE GENES ENCODING THE ALPHA-SUBUNI AND BETA-SUBUNIT OF HUMAN RAB GERANYLGERANYL TRANSFERASE -3'-END OF THE ALPHA-SUBUNIT GENE OVERLAPS WITH THE TRANSGLUTAMINASE-1GENE PROMOTER

We have isolated and sequenced the complete coding sequences of the hu man genes for the alpha- and beta-subunits of Rab geranylgeranyl trans ferase (Rab GGTase). The alpha- and beta-subunit genes code for protei ns of 567 and 331 amino acids, respectively, showing 91 and 95% amino acid identity to their rat counterparts. We employed fluorescence in s itu hybridization to map the beta-subunit gene to human chromosome 1p3 1. The alpha-subunit gene could be assigned to 14q11.2, less than 2 kb upstream of the transcription initiation site of the gene for transgl utaminase 1 (TGM1). The two genes are arranged in tandem in a head-to- tail orientation. The short intergenic sequence between the two loci c ontains several promoter elements that are involved in the induction o f TGM1 gene expression in squamous cells. These results suggest that c is-acting factors for cell-type-specific transcription of one gene ark located within the transcribed region of a functionally unrelated gen e. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.