Cloning and characterization of AWP1, a novel protein that associates withserine/threonine kinase PRK1 in vivo

We describe the cloning and expression of cDNAs encoding a novel human prot ein of 208 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 22.6 kDa and its mouse homologue. We name this protein as AWP1 (associated with PRK1 ). AWP1 is a ubiquitously expressed protein, and the Awp1 gene is switched on during early human and mouse development. When expressed in COS-I cells, the Myc-tagged AWP1 has an apparent molecular mass higher than that deduce d from its amino acid sequence. AWP1 possesses a conserved zf-A20 zinc fing er domain at its N-terminal and a zf-AN1 zinc finger domain at its C-termin al. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that mouse AWP1 specificall y interacts with a rat serine/threonine protein kinase PRK1 in vivo. Hence, AWP1 may play a regulatory role in mammalian signal transduction pathways. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.