Elongation Factor RNA Polymerase II (ELL)

The sequence of this gene was amplified and used as a probe to screen a fetal brain cDNA library. On Northern blot analysis, this cDNA detected a 4.4-kb transcript that was abundant in peripheral blood leukocytes, skeletal muscle, placenta, and testis and expressed at lower levels in spleen, thymus, heart, brain, lung, kidney, liver, and ovary. In addition, a 2.8-kb transcript was present in peripheral blood, testis, and placenta. On zoo blots, this gene was shown to be evolutionarily conserved in 10 mammalian species, as well as in chicken, frog, and fish. They named the gene ELL (for 'eleven-nineteen lysine-rich leukemia' gene). A highly basic, lysine-rich motif of the predicted ELL protein was homologous to similar regions of several proteins, including the DNA-binding domain of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.