U3 Small Nucleolar Ribonucleoprotein 11 Like Protein (UTP11L)

By searching an EST database for a transcript downregulated in early-stage Alzheimer disease brain, followed by screening a brain cDNA library and 5-prime RACE, Heese et al. (2002) cloned UTP11L, which they called CGI94. The deduced 253-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 30.4 kD. It is lysine rich and contains a bipartite nuclear localization signal and several serine, threonine, and tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Fluorescence-labeled CGI94 was expressed in the nucleolus of transfected rat neuroblastoma cells, and it was detected in the supernatant of transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells. Immunohistochemical analysis of rat brain detected CGI94 in specific regions of the hippocampus and cortex.CGI94 was significantly downregulated in the hippocampus of early-stage Alzheimer disease brain.