(03422)Identification and Characteristics of a Novel E1 Like Gene nUBE1L in Human Testis

Hui ZHU, Zuo-Min
ZHOU, Ran HUO, Xiao-Yan HUANG, Li LU, Min LIN, Li-Rong WANG, Ya-Dong ZHOU, Jian-Min
LI, and Jia-Hao SHA^*
(Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing,
Jiangsu 210029, China)

Abstract A gene, presumably
involved in spermatogenesis, was identified and characterized by using cDNA
microarray. Hybridization intensity was 2.13 fold higher in adult testis than
that in fetal testis. The full length of this gene was 4288 bp and it encoded
a 578 amino acid protein. Conserved structure and amino acid sequence analysis
revealed that the protein contained 1 Thif-domain, 2 UBACT-domains, and a functional
active site cysteine lay upstream of UBACT domain, all of them also existed
in ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 and E1 like proteins. So we named this gene
as a novel ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1 like gene (nUBE1L). Expression
profile showed that nUBE1L was predominantly expressed in testis. Comparison
of the expression of nUBE1L in different developmental stages of testis indicated
that it was highly expressed in adult testis. In conclusion, nUBE1L is
a novel human E1 like gene highly expressed in adult testis, which plays key
role in ubiquitin system, and accordingly influences spermatogenesis and male
fertility.

Key words ubiquitin-activating
enzyme E1; ubiquitin; spermatogenesis

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Received: November 4, 2003 Accepted:
December 22, 2003
This work was supported by a grant from the Major State Basic Research Development
Program of China (No. G1999055901)
*Corresponding author: Tel, 86-25-6862908; Fax, 86-25-6862908; E-mail, [email protected]