MOLECULAR-CLONING OF AVIAN MATRIX GLA PROTEIN

Matrix Gla protein plays an essential role in preventing the calcifica tion of blood vessel walls, cartilage and other tissues. We report her e the primary structure of chicken matrix Gla protein as deduced from the cDNA sequence. The avian protein exhibited the characteristic moti fs previously identified in the mammalian proteins, but its amino acid sequence shared only 51-56% identity with the latter proteins. Moreov er, a region proposed to function as binding site for gamma-carboxylas e in the mammalian proteins was poorly conserved in the chicken protei n. Our sequence data should be helpful in the design of mutational ana lyses which are intended to characterize functional interactions of ma trix Gla proteins with other proteins. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.