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P Ayton

Publications and source records attributed to P Ayton.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

The leukemia-associated-protein (LAP) domain, a cysteine-rich motif, is present in a wide range of proteins, including MLL, AF10, and MLLT6 proteins.

We have identified and further characterized a Caenorhabditis elegans gene, CEZF, that encodes a protein with substantial homology to the zinc finger and leucine zipper motifs of the human gene products AF10, MLLT6, and BR140. The first part of the zinc finger region of CEZF has strong similarity to the corresponding regions of AF10 (66%) and MLLT6 (64%) at the cDNA level. As this region is structurally different from previously described zinc finger motifs, sequence homology searches were done. Twenty-five other proteins with a similar motif were identified. Because the functional domain of this motif is potentially disrupted in leukemia-associated chromosomal translocations, we propose the name of leukemia-associated protein (LAP) finger. On the basis of these comparisons, the LAP domain consensus sequence is Cys1-Xaa1-2-Cys2-Xaa9-21-Cys3-Xaa2-4 -Cys4-Xaa4-5-His5-Xaa2-Cys6-Xaa12-46 - Cys7-Xaa2-Cys8, where subscripted numbers represent the number of amino acid residues. We review the evidence that this motif binds zinc, is the important DNA-binding domain in this group of regulatory proteins, and may be involved in leukemogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence

A novel class of zinc finger/leucine zipper genes identified from the molecular cloning of the t(10;11) translocation in acute leukemia.

A novel class of conserved transcription factors has been identified from the molecular cloning of AF10, the gene involved in the t(10;11)(p12;q23) translocation of acute myeloid leukemias. AF10 encodes a 109-kD protein of 1,027 amino acids and contains an N-terminal zinc finger region and a C-terminal leucine zipper. These structures have been found to be conserved in sequence and position in three other proteins, AF17, BR140, and a previously unrecognized Caenorhabditis elegans gene, provisionally named CEZF. The overall structure, level of sequence conservation, and expression pattern suggest that these genes encode a new class of transcription factors, some of which are targets for chromosomal translocation in acute leukemia.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing

Isolation of cDNA clones encoding the beta isozyme of human DNA topoisomerase II and localisation of the gene to chromosome 3p24.

Topoisomerases catalyse the interconversion of topological isomers of DNA and have key roles in nucleic acid metabolism. Human cells express two distinct type II topoisomerase isozymes, designated topoisomerase II alpha (170 kDa form) and topoisomerase II beta (180 kDa form). We have isolated cDNA clones encoding the beta isozyme from a human B-cell library. The proposed coding region for the topoisomerase II beta protein is 4,863 nucleotides long and would encode a polypeptide with a calculated M(r) of 182,705. The predicted topoisomerase II beta protein sequence shows striking similarity (72% identical residues) to that of the human alpha isozyme, and homology to topoisomerase II proteins from Drosophila, yeast and bacteria. Regions of greatest amino acid sequence divergence lie at the extreme N-terminus and over a C-terminal domain comprising approximately 25% of the total protein. We have quantified the level of topoisomerase II beta mRNA in a panel of human tumour cell lines of different origin using an RNase protection assay, and compared the level to that of topoisomerase II alpha mRNA. Topoisomerase II beta mRNA was expressed in haemopoietic, epithelial and fibroblast cell lines, although to different extents, with U937 cells (promonocytic leukaemia) showing a particularly high level. There was no obvious relationship in terms of level of expression between the topoisomerase II alpha and beta genes. We have localised the gene encoding topoisomerase II beta protein to chromosome 3p24 in the human genome.

Amino Acid Sequence