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Thomas Wex, Heike Wex, Dieter Brömme

The Human Cathepsin F Gene a Fusion Product between an Ancestral Cathepsin and Cystatin Gene

Human cathepsin F is a novel papain-like cysteine protease of unknown function. Here, we describe the complete human cathepsin F (CTSF) gene which is composed of 13 exons. In addition to a previous report, two novel upstream located exons whose splice sites interrupted the propeptide of cathepsin F within the ‘cystatin-like’ domain, recently described by Nagler et al. (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 257, 313–318, 1999) were identified. A comparison of the genomic structures between this novel part of the cathepsin F gene and those of several cystatin genes revealed striking similarities, supporting the hypothesis that the cathepsin F gene resulted from a gene fusion between an ancestral cystatin and cathepsin gene.

Biological Chemistry, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 1431-6730
Volume: 380, 12/1999
Pages: 1439 - 1442

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