title: The gene encoding the transcription factor SCIP has features of an expressed retroposon.
abstract: SCIP is a POU domain transcription factor expressed by glial progenitor cells in the peripheral and central nervous systems (dividing Schwann cells and O-2A cells, respectively), where it appears to act as a repressor of myelin-specific genes. We have isolated genomic clones encoding the rat SCIP gene. Comparison of the structure of these clones with genomic Southern blots and SCIP cDNAs demonstrates that SCIP is encoded in a single-copy, intronless gene that has the general features of an expressed retroposon. This gene contributes to an extended CpG island. It is transcribed to produce a 3.1-kb mRNA that encodes a 451-amino-acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 45 kDa. Immunopurified SCIP antibodies specifically recognize a nuclear protein of this size in cultured proliferating Schwann cells, and gel shift analyses demonstrate that this protein is the predominant octamer-binding protein in these cells.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute, San Diego, California 92186.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Monuki
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lemke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D050816:Octamer Transcription Factor-6; D051381:Rats; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012190:Retroviridae; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; C494179:Pou3f1 protein, rat; D014157:Transcription Factors; D050816:Octamer Transcription Factor-6; D004247:DNA; D012260:Ribonucleases