Isolation and characterization of a rat ventricular cDNA expressed specifically in cardiac and skeletal muscles

We describe the isolation of a novel cDNA named Myomy and show that its transcripts are present in skeletal and cardiac muscles as well as in differentiated Sol 8 skeletal muscle cell line. Sequence analysis revealed that neither nucleotides nor deduced protein product have any significant homology to those previously described. The encoded protein of Myomy cDNA consists of 76 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 8,000 dalton. Based on its muscle specific expression, low abundance and a higher occurrence of SP(T)XX, S(T)S(T)XX motifs, we suggest that Myomy encodes a new muscle specific transcription factor.