MOLECULAR-CLONING OF A PUTATIVE NOVEL HUMAN BZIP TRANSCRIPTION FACTORON CHROMOSOME 17Q22

We have cloned and characterized cDNA clones representing several mRNA isoforms generated by alternative splicing of a single gene localized to chromosome 17q22. Sequence analysis showed that the predicted tran slational product of the longest open reading frame (2316 nucleotides, 772 amino acids) is related to transcription factors of the basic leu cine zipper (bZIP) class. The sequence contained several regions chara cteristic of transcriptional regulatory domains. A cluster of amino ac ids flanking the bZIP region on both sides was highly conserved betwee n TCF11 and p45 NF-E2, a subunit of the human globin locus control reg ion-binding protein, NF-E2. These same regions showed remarkable homol ogy to two invertebrate proteins, CNC and skn-1, postulated to regulat e embryonic development in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, respectively. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.