ISOLATION OF A CDNA-ENCODING A PHOTORECEPTOR CELL-SPECIFIC ACTIN-BUNDLING PROTEIN - RETINAL FASCIN

We have isolated a novel retina-specific gene, retinal fascin, encodin g a new member of actin-bundling protein gene family, from a bovine re tina cDNA library, The cDNA encodes a 492 amino acid protein which sho ws 36-57% amino acid identity with three vertebrate fascins, echinoid fascin and Drosophila singed gene. Northern blot analysis revealed tha t retinal fascin mRNA was exclusively expressed in the eye and not see n in other tissues examined, In situ hybridization analysis indicated that retinal fascin mRNA signals were found only in the inner segment of the photoreceptor layer and outer nuclear layer, indicating that re tinal fascin was specifically expressed in photoreceptor cells, As fas cins are actin-bundling proteins important for constructing several in tracellular structures, retinal fascin might play a pivotal role in ph otoreceptor cell-specific events, such as disk morphogenesis. (C) 1997 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.