title: Characterisation of the NUCKS gene on human chromosome 1q32.1 and the presence of a homologous gene in different species.
abstract: The NUCKS gene is located on human chromosome 1q32.1 and consists of seven exons and six introns. The gene lacks a TATA box but contains two Inr elements, two GC boxes, and one consensus-binding site for E2F-1. NUCKS is expressed in all human adult and foetal tissues investigated, and has all the features of being a housekeeping gene. Both data searches and Western immunoblotting experiments show that a homologous protein is present in fish, amphibians, and birds but not in insects and yeast, suggesting that NUCKS is a vertebrate specific gene. In all the species investigated, the protein contains several consensus phosphorylation sites for cyclin-dependent kinases and CK-2, and we have shown that the fish protein (like mammalian NUCKS) indeed is a substrate for CDK1 and CK-2 in vitro. The NUCKS protein is also conserved with respect to a DNA-binding domain previously characterised in mammals, and two putative bipartite nuclear localisation signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biochemistry, Institute Group of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway. kirsten.grundt@basalmed.uio.no
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grundt
authors.forename: Ingvild Vågslid
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.forename: Vasiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Aleporou-Marinou
authors.forename: Yiannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Drosos
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wanvik
authors.forename: Anne Carine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Østvold
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000663:Amphibians; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D002874:Chromosome Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002878:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D005399:Fishes; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein / Q000379:methods*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: C426654:NUCKS1 protein, human; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins