Ankhzn (ankyrin repeats hooked to a zinc finger motif) was originally isola
ted by means of the gene trap method, as a novel cytoplasmic protein on mou
se embryonic stem cells. The Ankhzn protein is ubiquitously expressed in a
spatiotemporal-specific manner and is located on endosomes. In the present
study, we have cloned human ANKHZN cDNA by PCR using candidate EST clones e
xhibiting a high homology to mouse Ankhzn cDNA. The human ANKHZN cDNA encod
ed a 1166 aa protein exhibiting 84.9% identity to the mouse one. The size o
f the transcript was found to be about 7 kb on a Northern blot analysis, an
d ANKHZN mRNA was found to be ubiquitously expressed in human tissues on RT
-PCR analysis. Western blot analysis showed that a 130 kDa protein was dete
cted at various levels in human tissues and also present in both membrane a
nd soluble fractions obtained on subcellular fractionation. Human ANKHZN is
a single copy gene consisting of predicted 25 exons in the human genome, a
nd has been mapped to human chromosome 17p13 by radiation hybrid panel and
fluorescence in-situ hybridization, (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ
ts reserved.