EXPRESSION OF PROTEIN-KINASE REGULATOR GENES IN HUMAN EAR AND CLONINGOF A GAMMA-SUBTYPE OF THE 14-3-3-FAMILY OF PROTEINS

We have used oligonucleotides corresponding to conserved regions of pr otein kinase regulators of 14-3-3 gene family as primers to amplify th ese genes from cDNAs constructed from the human fetal inner ear. Seque nce characterization of clones revealed that the 14-3-3 cDNA library f rom the fetal inner ear has high abundance of clones encoding a protei n kinase regulator (theta subtype), a member of 14-3-3 gene family, an d relatively lower abundance of clones for two other members of the ge ne family, One of these genes is identical to the eta subtype of human 14-3-3 genes; there is no cloned gene for the other subtype in the hu man 14-3-3 gene family in the nucleic acid data bases. A sequence homo logy search revealed that the latter shared significant homology with the gamma subtype of the rat 14-3-3 family. On the basis of the sequen ce data, it appears that this clone represents a human homolog of the rat gamma subtype. The results demonstrate the expression of 14-3-3 ge nes in the inner ear, characterize a human homolog of the rat gamma su btype of 14-3-3, implicate these proteins in ear development, and indi cate the utility of gene family polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for in vestigating gene expression in specific tissues.