Sequencing of 42kb of the APO E-C2 Gene Cluster Reveals a New Gene: PEREC1

Through the sequencing of a 42kb cosmid clone we describe a new gene, designated PEREC1, located approximately 1.5kb centromeric of the human apolipoprotein (APO) E-C2 cluster. The combination of dotplot analysis, predicted coding potential and interrogation of the Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) database determined the genomic organisation of PEREC1. Sequence alignment with multiple overlapping ESTs confirmed the predicted splice sites. The predicted cDNA and amino acid sequences of PEREC1 have extensive similarity to the Caenorhabditis elegans protein, C18E9.6. Conserved structural and functional motifs have been defined by combining nucleotide and amino acid analyses to identify third base degeneracy and therefore selection at the protein level. The Poliovirus Receptor Related Protein2 gene (PRR2), previously mapped to chromosome 19ql3.2 by Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridisation, has also been located approximately 17kb centromeric of APO E.