Vacuolar Protein Sorting 29 (VPS29)

VPS29 is a component of a large multimeric complex, termed the retromer complex, which is involved in retrograde transport of proteins from endosomes to the trans-Golgi network.

The deduced 20.5-kD VPS29 protein is hydrophilic and has a predicted mixed alpha-helix and beta-sheet structure. It has 2 polyadenylation signals and a charged C terminus containing the conserved NPGS amino acid motif. Northern blot analysis detected 2 transcripts of 0.8 and 2 kb corresponding to the 2 polyadenylation signals. The longer transcript was more abundant, showing highest expression in heart, skeletal muscle, and kidney, intermediate expression in brain, colon, and liver, and lowest expression in thymus, spleen, small intestine, placenta, lung, and leukocytes.