Mouse hus1, a homolog of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe hus1+ cell cycle checkpoint gene

Cell cycle checkpoints are regulatory mechanisms that arrest the cell cycle or initiate programmed cell death when critical events such as DNA replica tion fail to be completed or when DNA or spindle damage occurs. In fission yeast, cell cycle checkpoint responses to DNA replication blocks and DNA da mage require the hus1(+) gene. Mammalian homologs of hus1(+) were recently identified, and here we report a detailed analysis of mouse Hus1. An approx imately 4.2-kb full-length cDNA encoding the 32-kDa mouse Hus1 protein was isolated. The genomic structure and exon-intron boundary sequences of the g ene were determined, and mouse Hus1 was found to consist of nine exons. Mou se Hus1 was mapped to the proximal end of chromosome 11 and is therefore a candidate gene for the mouse mutation germ cell deficient, which maps to th e same genomic region. Finally, mouse Hus1 was found to be expressed in a v ariety of adult tissues and at several stages of embryonic development. (C) 1999 Academic Press.