HUMAN SYNAPTONEMAL COMPLEX PROTEIN-1 (SCP1) - ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CDNA AND CHROMOSOMAL LOCALIZATION OF THE GENE

Synaptonemal complexes (SCs) are structures that are formed between ho mologous chromosomes (homologs) during meiotic prophase. They consist of two proteinaceous axes, one along each homolog, that are connected along their length by numerous transverse filaments (TFs). The cDNA en coding one major component of TFs of SCs of the rat, rnSCP1, has recen tly been isolated and characterized. In this paper we describe the iso lation and characterization of the cDNA encoding the human protein hom ologous to rnSCP1, hsSCP1. hsSCP1 and rnSCP1 have 75% amino acid ident ity. The most prominent structural features and amino acid sequence mo tifs of rnSCP1 have been conserved in hsSCP1. Most probably, hsSCP1 is functionally homologous to rnSCP1. The hsSCP1 gene was assigned to hu man chromosome 1p12-p13 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. (C) 199 7 Academic Press.