Prospero Homeobox Protein 1 (PROX1)

Comparison of the human and chicken PROX1 nucleotide sequence demonstrated that they are highly conserved, with overall homology of 94%. In the region of the homeodomain and the prospero domain, the genes were identical.

The prospero domain coincides with a domain in a Drosophila gene that is expressed in Drosophila central nervous system and in the developing lens-secreting cone cells of the eye. Exon 1 of the human sequence showed no clear similarity to the 3 alternatively spliced variants of chicken PROX1 cDNA. Human PROX1 exon 1 was found to contain repetitive sequences. Analysis of mRNA revealed that Prox mRNA was present in many different human tissues and that lens demonstrated the highest level. In all tissues but lens, PROX1 cDNA hybridized to a single band of 8 kb.