title: Molecular evolution of hemojuvelin and the repulsive guidance molecule family.
abstract: Repulsive guidance molecules (RGMs) are found in vertebrates and chordates and are involved in embryonic development and iron homeostasis. Members of this family are GPI-linked membrane proteins that contain an N-terminal signal peptide, a C-terminal propeptide, and a conserved RGD motif. Vertebrates are known to possess three paralogues; RGMA and RGMB (sometimes called Dragon) are expressed in the nervous system and are thought to play various roles in neural development. Hemojuvelin (HJV; also called repulsive guidance molecule c, RGMC) is the third member of this family, and mutations in this gene result in a form of juvenile hemochromatosis (type 2A). Phylogenetic analyses of 55 different RGM family sequences from 21 different species support the existence of a novel gene, found only in fish, which we have labeled RGMD. The pattern of conserved residues in each family identifies new candidates for important functional roles, including ligand binding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Chatham University, Woodland Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.
authors.forename: Laura Marie
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Camus
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lambert
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005399:Fishes; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; D000071020:Hemochromatosis Protein; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D015816:Cell Adhesion Molecules, Neuronal; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; D000071020:Hemochromatosis Protein; C513726:Hjv protein, rat; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C483496:Rgma protein, mouse; C483497:Rgmb protein, mouse