A UNIQUE HUMAN GENE THAT SPANS OVER 230 KB IN THE HUMAN-CHROMOSOME 8P11-12 AND CODES MULTIPLE FAMILY PROTEINS SHARING RNA-BINDING MOTIFS

A unique gene, REP-MS, spanning over 230 kb in the human chromosome 8p 11-12 near the Werner syndrome gene locus is described, The single-cop y REP-MS gene is alternatively spliced, resulting in a family of at le ast 12 transcripts (average length of 1.5 kb), Nine different types of cDNAs that encode an RNA-binding motif at the N terminus and helix-ri ch sequences at the C terminus have been identified thus far, Among th e 16 exons identified, four 5'-proximal exons contained sequences homo logous to the RNA-binding domain of Drosophila couch potato gene, Nort hern blot analysis showed that the REP-MS gene was expressed strongly in the heart, prostate, intestine, and ovary, and poorly in the skelet al muscle, spleen, thymus, brain, and peripheral leukocytes. The possi ble role of this gene in RNA metabolism is discussed.