Cloning and expression pattern of a novel PEBP2 beta-binding protein (charged amino acid rich leucine zipper-1 [Crl-1]) in the mouse

PEBP2 beta /Cbf beta is the beta subunit of PEBP2/Cbf, which has been demon strated to have important biological activities in hematopoiesis and Osteog enesis. However, PEBP2 beta is ubiquitously expressed, suggesting that PEBP 2 has other additionally important physiological activities. In an effort t o elucidate other possible functions for PEBP2, we have isolated a novel ge ne that encodes a PEBP2 beta -interacting protein from a mouse cDNA library . We have called this gene Crl-1 for charged amino acid rich leucine zipper -1 (Crl-1) because it is rich in charged amino acids and contains a putativ e leucine zipper region. Expression studies in a 17.5 days post-coitum mous e embryo demonstrated Crl-1 expression mainly in the olfactory bulb and cer ebral cortex. Post-natally, Crl-1 expression was additionally observed in t he cerebellar cortex with strong expression in the hippocampus. These findi ngs show that this novel PEBP2 beta -interacting protein is expressed mainl y in subsets of neuronal cells, suggesting that Crl-1 plays some role in th e developing mouse brain. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd, All rights reserved.