Identification and characterization of a protein containing formin homology (FH1/FH2) domains

A novel member of the Formin/Diaphanous family of proteins was cloned and c haracterized. A 4 kB mRNA is ubiquitously expressed but is found in abundan ce in the spleen. FHOS (Formin Homologue Overexpressed in Spleen) contains a 3414 bp open reading frame and encodes for an approximately 128 kDa prote in. FHOS has sequence homology to Diaphanous and Formin proteins within the Formin Homology (FH)1 and FH2 domains. FHOS also contains a coiled-coil, a collagen-like domain, two nuclear localization signals, and several potent ial PKC and PKA phosphorylation sites. FHOS-specific antiserum was generate d and used to determine that FHOS is a predominantly cytoplasmic protein an d is expressed in a variety of human cell lines. FHOS was mapped to chromos ome 16q22 between framework markers WI-5594 and WI-9392. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.