Analysis of the expression pattern of Ebp1, an ErbB-3-binding protein

Ebp1, a member of the PA2G4 family, was isolated as an ErbB-3-binding protein in our laboratory using yeast two hybrid analysis. Although Ebp1 mRNA is ubiquitously expressed, little is known about either the expression of Ebp1 protein in vivo or its translation initiation site. Western blotting analysis of a wide range of cell lines and primary tissue indicated that in the majority of cases Ebp1 is expressed as a single protein which migrates at 48 kDa in SDS-polyacrylamide gels. We show using epitope-tagged expression constructs that the second, not the first, in-frame ATG is used for the initiation of translation of the endogenous protein, encoding a protein predicted to be 41.5 kDa. The molecular mass of endogenous Ebp1 protein derived from mouse liver and brain was determined by mass spectrometry and the data confirm that translation of endogenous Ebp1 in tissues is initiated from the second in-frame ATG.