Basonuclin 2: an extremely conserved homolog of the zinc finger protein basonuclin.
Basonuclin is a zinc finger protein specific to basal keratinocytes and germ cells. In keratinocytes, basonuclin behaves as a stem cell marker and is thought to be a transcription factor that maintains proliferative capacity and prevents terminal differentiation. The human gene is located on chromosome 15. We have discovered in the chicken the existence of basonuclin 2, a basonuclin homolog. We also report the entire sequence of mouse and human basonuclin 2; the corresponding genes are located on mouse chromosome 4 and human chromosome 9. Although the amino acid sequence of basonuclin 2 differs extensively from that of basonuclin 1, the two proteins share essential features. Both contain three paired zinc fingers, a nuclear localization signal, and a serine stripe. The basonuclin 2 mRNA has a wider tissue distribution than the basonuclin 1 mRNA: it is particularly abundant in testis, kidney, uterus, and intestine. The extreme conservation of the basonuclin 2 amino acid sequence across vertebrates suggests that basonuclin 2 serves an important function, presumably as a regulatory protein of DNA transcription.
Unité Propre de Recherche 2228 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Vivant des Saints-Pères, Université René Descartes, 75006 Paris, France.
Amandine
A
Vanhoutteghem
Philippe
P
Djian
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005091:Exons; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016335:Zinc Fingers / Q000235:genetics
C484527:BNC2 protein, human; C511595:Bnc1 protein, mouse; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; C484528:basonuclin 2, mouse; C077914:BNC1 protein, human; D004247:DNA