Vol.
172,
No.
October
30,
2, 1990
BIOCHEMICAL
AND
BIOPHYSICAL
RESEARCH
COMMUNICATIONS
Pages
1990
HEPARIN-BINDING
NEUROTROPHIC
MEMBERS OF A NEW FAMILY
FACTOR (HBNF) AND MK,
OF HOMOLOGOUS,
REGULATED
850-854
DEVELOPMENTALLY
PROTEINS
Imre Kovesdir, Jeanette L. Fairhurst, Peter J. Kretschmer, and Peter Biihlen
Medical Research Division, American Cyanamid Company, Pearl River, NY 10965 Received
September
10,
1990
A partial rat cDNA clone coding for a novel neurotrophic factor HBNF was isolated. Nucleotide sequence determination, in combination with the known Nterminal sequence of rat HBNF, allowed deduction of the amino acid sequence of the first 102 residues of mature rat HBNF. HBNF shares high structural homology (55 %) with the MK protein (Tomomura et al., J. Biol. Chem. 265, 10765, 1990). Complete alignment of 9 cysteine residues suggests further that the two proteins have similar S-dimensional structures. HBNF was reported to stimulate neurite outgrowth in neurons and to be expressed in a developmentally regulated manner in the rat brain. MK mRNA was found in retinoid acid-induced teratocarcinoma cells and during early development of the mouse embryo, but no biological activity for MK is yet known. These data suggest that HBNF and MK are members of a novel family of structurally and probably functionally related proteins. 1493Academic Prl~Jss, I,,
172,
No.
October
30,
2, 1990
BIOCHEMICAL
AND
BIOPHYSICAL
RESEARCH
COMMUNICATIONS
Pages
1990
HEPARIN-BINDING
NEUROTROPHIC
MEMBERS OF A NEW FAMILY
FACTOR (HBNF) AND MK,
OF HOMOLOGOUS,
REGULATED
850-854
DEVELOPMENTALLY
PROTEINS
Imre Kovesdir, Jeanette L. Fairhurst, Peter J. Kretschmer, and Peter Biihlen
Medical Research Division, American Cyanamid Company, Pearl River, NY 10965 Received
September
10,
1990
A partial rat cDNA clone coding for a novel neurotrophic factor HBNF was isolated. Nucleotide sequence determination, in combination with the known Nterminal sequence of rat HBNF, allowed deduction of the amino acid sequence of the first 102 residues of mature rat HBNF. HBNF shares high structural homology (55 %) with the MK protein (Tomomura et al., J. Biol. Chem. 265, 10765, 1990). Complete alignment of 9 cysteine residues suggests further that the two proteins have similar S-dimensional structures. HBNF was reported to stimulate neurite outgrowth in neurons and to be expressed in a developmentally regulated manner in the rat brain. MK mRNA was found in retinoid acid-induced teratocarcinoma cells and during early development of the mouse embryo, but no biological activity for MK is yet known. These data suggest that HBNF and MK are members of a novel family of structurally and probably functionally related proteins. 1493Academic Prl~Jss, I,,
