title: Isolation and genomic analysis of the human surf-6 gene: a member of the Surfeit locus.
abstract: The human Surfeit locus contains at least six tightly clustered genes (Surf-1 to Surf-6) of which five (Surf-1 to Surf-5) have been characterised and found not to share any sequence homology. The organisation and juxtaposition of the Surfeit genes are conserved between human and mouse. The Surf-6 gene that encodes a novel nucleolar-matrix protein with nucleic-acid binding properties has been characterised in mouse. In this work, we have isolated and analysed the human Surf-6 homologue and determined its genomic organisation in the Surfeit locus. The human Surf-6 gene has five exons spread over a distance of 4.3kb and has features of a housekeeping gene being ubiquitously expressed, having its 5' end located within a CpG rich island and lacking a canonical TATA box. The intragenic region between the 3' end of the Surf-5 gene and the 5' end of the Surf-6 gene is 3.2kb and contains a pseudogene of the ribosomal protein gene rpL21. The putative human Surf-6 protein is 361 amino acids long and includes motifs found in both the mouse and fish Surf-6 homologues, which may underlie the functions of Surf-6. Three amino acid polymorphisms have been detected at codons 163, 175 and 311 by SSCP analysis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurophysiology, National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, UK. bmagoul@nimr.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magoulas
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C484378:SURF6 protein, human; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA