Melanoregulin (MREG)

The deduced protein contains 214 amino acids. By database analysis, they identified a human DSU clone from a 10-week-old embryo cDNA library. The human and mouse proteins share 80% identity. DSU homologs were found only in vertebrates. Northern blot analysis detected expression of Dsu in mouse from embryonic days 7 to 17 and in all adult mouse tissues examined, with highest expression in skin, heart, liver, testis, and thymus. EST database analysis indicated that human DSU is expressed in fetal liver, spleen, and mammary gland.

The mouse Dsu gene contains 5 exons and spans 53 kb. The 5-prime end is extremely GC rich. The human DSU gene contains 6 exons.