title: Human microtubule-associated protein 1a (MAP1A) gene: genomic organization, cDNA sequence, and developmental- and tissue-specific expression.
abstract: Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) regulate microtubule stability and play critical roles in neuronal development and the balance between neuronal plasticity and rigidity. MAP1a (HGMW-approved symbol MAP1A) stabilizes microtubules in postnatal axons. We describe human MAP1a's genomic organization and deduced cDNA and amino acid sequences. MAP1a is a single-copy gene spanning 10.5 kb. MAP1a coding sequence is contained in five exons. Translation begins in exon 3. Human MAP1a contains 2805 amino acids (predicted molecular weight 306.5 kDa) and is slightly larger than rat MAP1a (2774 amino acids). Like rat and bovine MAP1a, human MAP1a contains conserved tubulin binding motifs in the amino-terminal region. The carboxy-terminal portion contains a conserved pentadecapeptide that is present in the light chain portion of rat and bovine MAP1a/LC2 polyprotein. We show that human MAP1a gene expression occurs almost exclusively in the brain and that there is approximately 10-fold greater gene expression in adult brain compared to fetal brain. Strong, interspecies conservation between human and rat MAP1a cDNA and amino acid sequences indicates important relationships between MAP1a's function and its primary amino acid sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilkowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D051381:Rats; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; C093429:MAP1A protein, human; C490546:Map1a protein, rat; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic