Cloning and characterization of a human lysyl oxidase-like 3 gene (hLOXL3)

Using the PCR primers generated from human expressed sequence tag (EST), th e cDNA of lysyl oxidase-like gene 3 (LOXL3), a new member of human lysyl ox idases gene family, was cloned from the human fetal brain mRNA. The predict ed amino acid sequence of the hLOXL3 gene was highly homologous to mLOR2. B ioinformatics analysis shows that hLOXL3 protein is also a member of the sc avenger receptor cysteine-rich family, which contains a 25 amino acids sign al peptide. The hLOXL3 gene was mapped to human 2p13 locus by BLAST search and at least 14 exons were found. Expression of the hLOXL3 gene was detecte d in several human tissues and especially high in spleen and testis. (C) 20 01 Elsevier Science B.V./International Society of Matrix Biology. All right s reserved.