cDNA sequence, genomic organization, and evolutionary conservation of a novel gene from the WAGR region

A new gene (239FB) with predominant and differential expression in fetal brain has recently been isolated from a chromosome 11p13-p14 boundary area near FSHB. The corresponding mRNA has an open reading frame of 294 amino acids, a 3' untranslated region of 1247 nucleotides, and a highly GC-rich 5' untranslated region. The coding and 3' UT sequence is specified by 6 exons within nearly 87 kb of isolated genomic locus. The 5' end region of the transcript maps adjacent to the only genomically defined CpG island in a chromosomal subregion that may be associated with part of the mental retardation of some WAGR (Wilms tumor, aniridia, genitourinary anomalies, and mental retardation) syndrome patients. In addition to nucleotide and amino acid similarity to an EST from a normalized infant brain cDNA library, the predicted protein has extensive similarity to two Caenorhabditis elegans polypeptides of, as yet, unknown function. The 239FB locus is, therefore, likely part of a family of genes with two members expressed in human brain. The extensive conservation of the predicted protein suggests a fundamental function of the gene product and will enable evaluation of the role of the 239FB gene in neurogenesis in model organisms.