ANALYSIS OF A HUMAN CDNA CONTAINING A TISSUE-SPECIFIC ALTERNATIVELY SPLICED LIM DOMAIN

A unique clone, isolated from a human pancreatic cDNA library, was seq uenced and characterized. Northern blot analysis showed that the gene is active in a number of fetal and adult tissues, and immunoblots show ed expression in nuclear and cytosolic cell fractions. The gene corres ponding to the clone was localized to chromosome 13 by human/rodent so matic cell hybrid panels. The largest open reading frame contains a LI M domain, and the deduced peptide from the open reading frame appears to have the characteristics of a LIM-only protein, designated LMO7. RT -PCR and genomic sequence analyses indicate that expression of this ge ne product is subject to tissue-specific modulation by elimination of the LIM domain by alternative splicing in neural tissues. (C) 1998 Aca demic Press.