title: Comparative analysis of the PLUNC (palate, lung and nasal epithelium clone) protein families.
abstract: PLUNC (palate, lung and nasal epithelium clone) is a small, secreted protein that is expressed in the oropharynx and upper airways of humans, mice and rats. We have described a family of at least 14 PLUNC genes localized on chromosome 20 (in humans), 2 (in mice) or 3 (in rats). These rapidly evolving proteins are structurally related to lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI). In the present analysis we comment on the comparative aspects of this protein family, which may function to protect epithelial surfaces from pathogenic micro-organisms.
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Respiratory Medicine, Division of Genomic Medicine, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield S10 2JF, UK. c.d.bingle@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Bingle
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Craven
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C485599:BPIFA1 protein, human; D006023:Glycoproteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins