GENETIC LOCALIZATION OF CD63, A MEMBER OF THE TRANSMEMBRANE-4 SUPERFAMILY, REVEALS 2 DISTINCT LOCI IN THE MOUSE GENOME

The membrane protein CD63, a molecular marker for early stages of mela noma progression, has been associated with platelet storage pool defic iency disorders (SPD). CD63 localizes to the membranes of platelets, l ysosomes, and melanosomes, all of which are affected in a specific sub group of SPD, The cDNA encoding CD63 detects two closely related seque nces that map to different regions of the mouse genome. One locus maps to mouse Chromosome (Chr) 10 in a region that shares linkage homology with the human chromosome encoding human CD63. The second locus maps to mouse Chr 18 in a region that bears no known human CD63-related gen es. No SPD has been localized to these regions of either the mouse or the human chromosomes. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.