The human hedgehog-interacting protein gene: Structure and chromosome mapping to 4q31.21 -> q31.3

Hedgehog-interacting protein (Hhip) is a novel regulatory component in the vertebrate hedgehog-signalling pathway. The murine Hhip encodes a type I TM protein that attenuates hedgehog signalling by binding all three mammalian hedgehog proteins. Here we describe the cloning and characterisation of th e homologous human hedgehog-interacting protein gene (HHIP). HHIP comprises 13 exons and spans >91kb encoding a protein of 700 aa which shares 94% seq uence identity with mouse Hhip. HHIP maps to chromosome 4q31.21 --> q31.3. Additionally, we have mapped murine Hhip to chromosome 8. Copyright (C) 200 1 S. Karger AG, Basel.