title: Identification of N-WASP homologs in human and rat brain.
abstract: We recently identified Neural Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein (N-WASP) from bovine brain. An expression analysis using bovine cDNA revealed that N-WASP plays critical roles in the regulation of the cortical actin cytoskeleton. Here, we report the molecular cloning of N-WASP homologs from human and rat brain cDNA libraries. The predicted amino acid sequences of human and rat N-WASP show 96% and 95% identity to bovine N-WASP, respectively, suggesting the functional importance of the molecule. Antibody raised against recombinant rat N-WASP recognizes a 65-kDa protein that exists ubiquitously in whole brain, including cerebrum, cerebellum, interbrain, and medulla oblongata. N-WASP was shown to be concentrated at the nerve terminal region. The gene locus of human N-WASP was also determined at 7q31.3 by fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuoka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takenawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002417:Cattle; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002897:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D051317:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein, Neuronal
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C495771:WASL protein, human; C495770:Wasl protein, rat; D051317:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein, Neuronal