STRUCTURE AND CHROMOSOMAL LOCALIZATION OF THE GENOMIC LOCUS ENCODING THE KIZ1 LIM-KINASE GENE

We have cloned and characterized the mouse gene encoding Kiz1/Limk1, a new member of the zinc finger LIM family that also has a kinase domai n. The gene encompasses 25 kb of the mouse genome, and the organizatio n of its 16 exons does not correlate with its functional domains. The promoter region of Kiz1/Limk1 was identified by cloning a 1.06-kb geno mic fragment upstream from the first ATC: in a promotorless CAT vector . This construct was demonstrated to drive CAT expression in Jurkat ce lls. The promoter sequence lacks conventional TATA and CAAT motifs but contains consensus binding sequences for several transcriptional regu lators implicated in control of transcription in many different cell t ypes, including Sp1, Ets, and E2A. Analysis of the chromosomal localiz ation of KIZ1/LIMK1 indicates that it lies on human chromosome 17 in t he region 17q25 and on mouse Chromosome 5, band G2. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.