Molecular cloning and characterization of DEC2, a new member of basic helix-loop-helix proteins

DEC1 is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein related to Drosophila Hairy , Enhancer of split and HES, and involved in the control of proliferation a nd/or differentiation of chondrocytes, neurons, etc. We report here the ide ntification and characterization of human, mouse and rat DEC2, a novel memb er of the DEC subfamily. DEC2 had high (97%) and moderate (52%) similaritie s in the bHLH region and the Orange domain with DEC1, respectively. However , DECS, but not DEC1, had alanine and glycine-rich regions in the C-termina l half. Unlike Hairy, Enhancer of split and HES, DECS lacked the WRPW motif for interaction with the corepressor Groucho. The DEC2 gene was mapped to human chromosome 12p11.23-p12.1, mouse chromosome 6 G2-G3 and rat chromosom e 4q43 distal-q4, where the conserved linkage homology has been identified among these species. Unlike DEC1, which was broadly expressed in many tissu es, DEC2 showed a more restricted pattern of mRNA expression. The DEC subfa mily proteins may play an important role in tissue development. (C) 2001 Ac ademic Press.