title: Isolation, characterization, and mapping of the mouse and human WDR8 genes, members of a novel WD-repeat gene family.
abstract: The Trp-Asp (WD) motif has been shown to exist in a number of proteins. Genes containing repeats of the WD motif compose a large gene family associated with a variety of cellular functions and can be divided into a number of functional subfamilies. By means of the differential display method using ttw, a mouse model for the early stage of ectopic ossification, we have identified a novel mouse gene, Wdr8 (WD repeat domain 8), which contains two WD repeats, together with its human orthologue. The human and mouse WDR8 genes encode 460 and 462 amino acids, respectively, with 89% identity, and are expressed in almost all tissues, including bone and cartilage, and in bone-forming cells, including osteoblasts and chondrocytes. Wdr8 expression in cartilage was differentially displayed by stimuli for ectopic ossification in ttw and was observed strongly only at a transition period from hypertrophic to mineralizing stages in ATDC5, a chondrogenic cell line that exhibits endochondral ossification, suggesting a potential role for Wdr8 in the process of ossification. The WDR8 protein is highly conserved among a variety of species, but is distinctly different from other WD-repeat proteins, indicating that it represents a novel subfamily of the WD-repeat gene family.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genome Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koshizuka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikegawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002878:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1 / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007438:Introns; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020449:Repetitive Sequences, Amino Acid / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011506:Proteins; C433889:WRAP73 protein, human; C499034:Wrap73 protein, mouse; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA