Beta-1,3-N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase 1 (b3GNT1)

b3GNT1 encodes a member of the beta-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase family. This enzyme is a type II transmembrane protein. It is essential for the synthesis of poly-N-acetyllactosamine, a determinant for the blood group i antigen.Sequence analysis predicted that the 415-amino acid type II transmembrane protein has a short N-terminal cytoplasmic sequence, a 28-residue transmembrane domain, a stem region, a large catalytic domain, and 2 potential N-glycosylation sites. Northern blot analysis detected ubiquitous expression of a 2.2-kb transcript at high levels in fetal brain and kidney and adult brain and at lower levels in adult thymus, peripheral blood leukocytes, lung, and liver. Functional analysis confirmed that the cloned product is i-beta-1,3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase.