Flightless I Homolog (FLII)

FLII encodes a protein with a gelsolin-like actin binding domain and an N-terminal leucine-rich repeat-protein protein interaction domain. The protein is similar to a Drosophila protein involved in early embryogenesis and the structural organization of indirect flight muscle. The gene is located within the Smith-Magenis syndrome region on chromosome 17.

The amino acid sequence deduced from the FLI cDNA has 52% similarity to that of the human gelsolin protein and also has an N-terminal leucine-rich domain with 16 consecutive leucine-rich repeats. FLII gene encodes a predicted 1,269-amino acid protein. Northern blot analysis revealed FLII expression as an approximately 4.4-kb mRNA in all tissues tested, with strongest expression in skeletal muscle.