title: The d4 gene family in the human genome.
abstract: The d4 domain, a novel zinc finger-like structural motif, was first revealed in the rat neuro-d4 protein. Here we demonstrate that the d4 domain is conserved in evolution and that three related genes form a d4 family in the human genome. The human neuro-d4 is very similar to rat neuro-d4 at both the amino acid and the nucleotide levels. Moreover, the same splice variants have been detected among rat and human neuro-d4 transcripts. This gene has been localized on chromosome 19, and two other genes, members of the d4 family isolated by screening of the human genomic library at low stringency, have been mapped to chromosomes 11 and 14. The gene on chromosome 11 is the homolog of the ubiquitously expressed mouse gene ubi-d4/requiem, which is required for cell death after deprivation of trophic factors. A gene with a conserved d4 domain has been found in the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The conservation of d4 proteins from nematodes to vertebrates suggests that they have a general importance, but a diversity of d4 proteins expressed in vertebrate nervous systems suggests that some family members have special functions.
authors.affiliation: Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov Str. 32, Moscow, 117984, Russia.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Chestkov
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Baka
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Kost
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Georgiev
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Buchman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002888:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 19 / Q000235:genetics; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012326:RNA Splicing; D051381:Rats; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C498274:DPF1 protein, human; C078491:Dpf1 protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors