Zyxin is a component of adhesion plaques that has been suggested to pe
rform regulatory functions at these specialized regions of the plasma
membrane, Here we describe the isolation and characterization of cDNAs
encoding human and mouse zyxin. Both the human and mouse zyxin protei
ns display a collection of proline-rich sequences as well as three cop
ies of the LIM domain, a zinc finger domain found in many signaling mo
lecules. The human zyxin protein is closely related in sequence to pro
teins implicated in benign tumorigenesis and steroid receptor binding.
Antibodies raised against human zyxin recognize an 84-kDa protein by
Western immunoblot analysis. The protein is localized at focal contact
s in adherent erythroleukemia cells. By Northern analysis, we show tha
t zyxin is widely expressed in human tissues. The zyxin gene maps to h
uman chromosome 7q32-q36.