Nipsnap Homolog 3A (NIPSNAP3A)

NIPSNAP3A belongs to a family of proteins with putative roles in vesicular transport.The deduced 247-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 28.4 kD. NIPSNAP3A is mainly an alpha-helical protein with no signal sequence or membrane-spanning domains. In vitro transcription and translation produced a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 30 kD. Fluorescence-tagged NIPSNAP3A was expressed in cytosolic vesicular structures distinct from Lamp1-positive lysosomal vesicles in transfected murine macrophages.SpiC protein of Salmonella interacted directly with mouse macrophage Nipsnap3a. This interaction inactivated the phagosome-lysosome maturation pathway, thus allowing Salmonella-containing vacuoles to avoid lysosomal degradation.