IDENTIFICATION OF A NEW MEMBER (ZNF183) OF THE RING FINGER GENE FAMILY IN XQ24-25

Four genes were mapped to the Xq24-25 region by searching the EST and the non-redundant database with short tracts of genomic sequences. The se were random STSs present in the STS database or sequences derived f rom CpG islands (EagI-based STSs). One of the four matches corresponde d to the full length transcript from the intronless glutamate dehydrog enase gene. The second was the human homolog of the bovine NADH ubiqui none oxidoreductase MWFE subunit gene (GDB symbol: NDUFA1). The other two, ZNF183 and ITBA4 were novel genes whose function cannot directly be inferred from their sequence analysis. However, a known motif, the C3HC4 Ring finger domain, shared by various tumor suppressors, DNA rep air genes and cytokine receptor-associated molecules, is present at th e C terminus of the ubiquitously expressed ZNF183 gene. ITBA4 is expre ssed at various levels in different tissues and is alternatively proce ssed in brain. Similarity search did not detect any significant match in databases. These results, together with others previously reported by our laboratory, suggest that comparison of genomic and transcribed sequences which are continuously accumulating in databases, can provid e 'virtual' mapping of a substantial number of ESTs to the specific ge nomic region which the STSs have been derived from. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.