title: A novel testis-specific RAG2-like protein, Peas: its expression in pachytene spermatocyte cytoplasm and meiotic chromatin.
abstract: We report a novel gene Peas that constitutes an overlapping gene complex in mammalian genome. We have cloned human and mouse Peas cDNAs (hPEAS/mPeas) and analyzed their tissue and stage-specific expressions. Peas protein contains six repeated kelch motifs, structurally similar to RAG2, a V(D)J recombination activator, and is evolutionarily conserved among mammals, birds, insects, and nematodes. Northern, RNA in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses showed that mPeas is specifically transcribed in testis, particularly in pachytene spermatocytes in which it is localized to the cytoplasm and meiotic chromatin. It is suggested that Peas may be involved in meiotic recombination process.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 6, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohinata
authors.forename: Shizuyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sutou
authors.forename: Youji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mitsui
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002843:Chromatin / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011994:Recombinant Proteins