A cDNA library prepared from the mouse osteoblastic cell line MC3T3-E1 was screened for the presence of specifically expressed genes by employing a combined subtraction hybridization/differential screening approach. A cDNA was identified and sequenced which encodes a protein designated osteoblast-specific factor 2 (OSF-2) comprising 811 amino acids. OSF-2 has a typical signal sequence, followed by a cysteine-rich domain, a fourfold repeated domain and a C-terminal domain. The protein lacks a typical transmembrane region. The fourfold repeated domain of OSF-2 shows homology with the insect protein fasciclin I. RNA analyses revealed that OSF-2 is expressed in bone and to a lesser extent in lung, but not in other tissues. Mouse OSF-2 cDNA was subsequently used as a probe to clone the human counterpart. Mouse and human OSF-2 show a high amino acid sequence conservation except for the signal sequence and two regions in the C-terminal domain in which ‘in-frame’ insertions or deletions are observed, implying alternative splicing events. On the basis of the amino acid sequence homology with fasciclin I, we suggest that OSF-2 functions as a homophilic adhesion molecule in bone formation.
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August 1993
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Research Article|
August 15 1993
Osteoblast-specific factor 2: cloning of a putative bone adhesion protein with homology with the insect protein fasciclin I
S Takeshita;
S Takeshita
1Hoechst Japan Limited, Pharma Research Laboratories, 1-3-2, Minamidai, Kawagoe, Saitama, 350 Japan.
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R Kikuno;
R Kikuno
1Hoechst Japan Limited, Pharma Research Laboratories, 1-3-2, Minamidai, Kawagoe, Saitama, 350 Japan.
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K Tezuka;
K Tezuka
1Hoechst Japan Limited, Pharma Research Laboratories, 1-3-2, Minamidai, Kawagoe, Saitama, 350 Japan.
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E Amann
E Amann
1Hoechst Japan Limited, Pharma Research Laboratories, 1-3-2, Minamidai, Kawagoe, Saitama, 350 Japan.
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Biochem J (1993) 294 (1): 271–278.
Citation
S Takeshita, R Kikuno, K Tezuka, E Amann; Osteoblast-specific factor 2: cloning of a putative bone adhesion protein with homology with the insect protein fasciclin I. Biochem J 15 August 1993; 294 (1): 271–278. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/bj2940271
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