Genetic Mapping of a Gene Encoding an Atypical Protein Kinase C, Protein Kinase C Lambda, to the Proximal Region of Mouse Chromosome 3

Protein kinase C are a class of proteins that mediate the control of cellular responses to external stimuli through the phosphorylation of target proteins . We have recently described the isolation of a human gene encoding a new member of the atypical class of protein kinase C, protein kinase C sub( iota ) (PKC sub( iota )), which we showed mapped to Xq21.3, close to the BTK gene. The atypical class of protein kinase C contains at least three members, protein kinase C lambda , protein kinase C zeta , and the previously mentioned protein kinase C iota , although further members have been predicted to exist on the basis of genomic Southern blotting. To clone the mouse genes for new members of the atypical class of protein kinase C, we screened a mouse 11.5-day embryonic cDNA library with a 2.2-kb cDNA representing the entire human PKC sub( iota ) gene. A FASTA search of the GenBank database using 1.5 kb of consensus cDNA sequence, containing mainly 3' untranslated sequence, revealed 99% identity at the nucleotide level with mouse protein kinase C lambda (Accession No. D28577). Protein kinase C lambda (PKC lambda ) has been previously characterized by Akimoto et al., but the gene encoding it had not been mapped in mouse or human.