Growth Arrest Specific Protein 8 (GAS8)

Loss of heterozygosity involving chromosome 16q24.3 is common in breast and prostate cancer and suggests the presence of a tumor suppressor gene. The authors used trapped exons homologous to a mouse growth arrest-specific (gas) cDNA from the deleted region to identify a human homolog. RT-PCR resulted in the assembly of a 1,434-bp open reading frame encoding a 478-amino acid putative protein.

GAS11 amino acid sequence is 96% identical to that of the mouse homolog; the 3- and 5-prime untranslated regions, however, differ completely between the 2 species. Northern blot analysis detected 2 ubiquitously expressed major bands of 3.4 and 1.8 kb, as well as a 7.3-kb band in heart and skeletal muscle and a 1.4-kb band in skeletal muscle alone.