Chick muscle-derived protein 62: a novel neurite outgrowth promoting protein

A 3.2 kb chick cDNA clone that coded for a novel muscle-derived protein, MD P62, was isolated from a cDNA library of the denervated crus muscles using an antibody which inhibited the neurite (dendritic and axonal processes) ou tgrowth activity. MDP62 consisted of 539 aa with a calculated molecular mas s of 62 k. The predicted protein sequence was hydrophilic and exhibited an extended coiled-coil domain and a leucine zipper motif. A recombinant prote in promoted the neurite outgrowth from the cultured chick neurons of the te lencephalon in a dose dependent manner. Northern blotting revealed that MDP 77 was ubiquitously expressed. In the transfected COS-7 cells with the cDNA of the epitope tagged MDP62, the expressed protein was detected in the cul ture medium, suggesting that the MDP62 might be secreted. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.