Vacuolar Protein Sorting 39 (VPS39)

The deduced protein contains 731 amino acids and shares significant homology with S. cerevisiae Vps39. Expression was more moderate in liver, skeletal muscle, pancreas, and spleen.The deduced 886-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of more than 100 kD. It shares 26% identity with the C-terminal half of S. cerevisiae Vam6 and 21% identity with TRAP1 (TGFBRAP1), another human homolog of S. cerevisiae Vam6. Human VAM6 has an N-terminal citron homology (CNH) domain and a central clathrin heavy chain (CLTC) repeat homology (CLH) domain. The CNH and CLH domains are conserved in human TRAP1 and in Drosophila, C. elegans, and S. pombe Vam6, but S. cerevisiae Vam6 lacks the CNH domain. Northern blot analysis revealed ubiquitous expression of VAM6 in human tissues.