Cloning and characterization of a gene (RFN22) encoding a novel brain expressed ring finger protein (BERP) that maps to human chromosome 11p15.5

We have recently identified a novel RING finger protein expressed in the ra t brain, which associates with myosin V and alpha -actinin-4. Here we have cloned and characterized the orthologous human BERP cDNA and gene (HGMW-app roved symbol RNF22). The human BERP protein is encoded by 11 exons ranging in size from 71 to 733 bp, and fluorescence in situ hybridization shows tha t the BERP gene maps to chromosome 11p15.5, 3' to the FE65 gene. The human BERP protein is 98% identical to the rat and mouse proteins, and we have id entified a highly conserved potential orthologue in Caenorhabditis elegans. BERP belongs to the RING: finger-B-box-coiled coil (RBCC) subgroup of RING finger proteins, and a cluster of these RBCC protein genes is present in c hromosome 11p15. Chromosome region 11p15 is thought to harbor tumor suppres sor genes, and deletions of this region occur frequently in several types o f human cancers, These observations indicate that BERP may be a novel tumor suppressor gene. (C) 2001 Academic Press.