Cloning and sequencing of the human homeobox gene HOX4A

The HOX4A gene, one of the homeobox-containing genes on human chromosome 2, has been isolated by screening a genomic cosmid library with a HOX4B cDNA probe. The HOX4A gene consists of at least two exons separated by a long intron of 1860 bp. According to conceptual translation, the HOX4A protein is predicted to be composed of 416 amino acid residues. Interestingly, the HOX4A protein has a sequence, Pro-Ala-Ser-Gln-Ser-Pro-Glu-Arg-Ser, eight amino acids downstream from the homeodomain, which is similar to that containing a phosphorylation site in pp60c-src, Pro-Ala-Ser-Gln-Thr-Pro-Asn-Lys-Thr. However, the HOX2G protein, which exhibits a paralogous relationship with the HOX4A protein, does not possess the sequence which is similar to that in pp60c-src. A comparison of the predicted HOX4A protein with the HOX2G protein revealed four regions of amino acid sequence similarities: an N-terminal tetrapeptide, a pentapeptide (pre-box) upstream of the homeodomain, the homeodomain and a C-terminal octapeptide.