WO1998053061A1

WO1998053061A1 - Three novel genes encoding a zinc finger protein, a guanine, nucleotide exchange factor and a heat shock protein or heat shock binding protein

Info

Publication number: WO1998053061A1
Application number: PCT/AU1998/000380
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nicholas Hayward; Ginters Silins; Sean Grimmond; Michael Gartside; John Hancock
Original assignee: Amrad Operations Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1997-05-23
Filing date: 1998-05-22
Publication date: 1998-11-26
Also published as: WO1998053061A9

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to three novel human genes with gene regulatory function. These genes encode a zinc finger protein, a guanine nucleotide exchange protein and a heat shock protein or heat shock binding protein. The invention includes derivatives and mammalian animal, insect, nematodes, avian and microbial homologues of these genes. The present invention further provides pharmaceutical compositions and diagnostic agents as well as genetic molecules useful in gene replacement therapy and recombinant molecules useful in protein replacement therapy.

Description

THREE NOVEL GENES ENCODING A ZINC FINGER PROTEIN, A GUANINE, NUCLEOTIDE EXCHANGE FACTOR AND A HEAT SHOCK PROTEIN OR HEAT SHOCK BINDING PROTEIN

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a novel human gene and its derivatives and to mammalian, animal, insect, nematodes, avian and microbial homologues thereof. The present invention further provides pharmaceutical compositions and diagnostic agents as well as genetic molecules useful in gene replacement therapy and recombinant molecules useful in protein replacement therapy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Bibliographic details of the publications referred to by author in this specification are collected at the end of the description.

The increasing sophistication of recombinant DNA technology is greatly facilitating research and development in the medical and allied health fields. There is growing need to develop recombinant and genetic molecules for use in diagnosis and in conventional pharmaceutical preparations as well as in gene and protein replacement therapies.

In work leading up to the present invention, the inventors sought to identify and clone human genes which might be useful as potential diagnostic and/or therapeutic agents. Molecules of particular interest targeted by the inventors were gene regulators including regulatory proteins, signal transducters and heat shock proteins.

Gene expression generally requires interaction between a regulatory protein and an appropriate recognition sequence of a target gene. Regulatory proteins comprise in many cases a domain or motif which facilitates binding to DNA. One particular motif comprises small sequence units repeated in tandem with each unit folded about a zinc atom to form separate structural domains. This motif is now referred to as a zinc finger domain. Such a domain is generally defined by the number of cysteine (C) and histidine (H) residues. In addition, knowledge of cellular interaction in the control of cell proliferation is essential in the rational design of specific therapeutic strategies aimed at controlling proliferative disorders. Such proliferative disorders including a range of cancers, inflammatory conditions and atherosclerosis. An important aspect of cellular interaction is in signal transduction via receptors to intracellular transducers. One key signal transducer is Ras which couples the receptors for diverse extracellular signals to different effectors. Ras directly activates the downstream kinase Raf which in turn induces the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade.

Another regulatory mechanism involves heat shock proteins. The Escherichia coli heat shock protein, DnaJ, is the founding member of a family of proteins which are associated with protein folding, protein complex assembly and transit through subcellular components.

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic DnaJ homologues have a modular organisation consisting of a J domain, a glycine-rich spacer, CXXCXGXG [SEQ ID NO: 1] repeats and a C-terminal region with no obvious sequence features, as well as additional sequences for protein targeting. The J domain is anticipated to mediate interaction with heat shock 70 proteins (Hsp70) and consists of some 70 amino acids, frequently located at the N-terminus of the protein.

In accordance with the present invention, a genes have been identified from the human genome which encodes proteins having a regulatory role. One gene, in accordance with the present invention encodes a protein with an N-terminal region resembling a zinc-finger domain of a novel type. Another gene encodes a protein involved in guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) signalling pathways. Yet another gene encodes a protein which is a heat shock protein or heat shock-like protein which may have a role in tumour suppression.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element or integer or group of elements or integers but not the exclusion of any other element or integer or group of elements or integers. Sequence identity numbers (SEQ ED NOs.) for nucleotide and amino acid sequences referred to in the subject specification are defined after the bibliography. A summary of SEQ ID NOs. is also given in Table 1.

One aspect of the present invention contemplates an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a regulator of gene expression or a derivative of said gene regulator.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding a regulator of gene expression wherein said regulator comprises a zinc finger domain of an (HC₃)₂ type.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is directed to an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides or a complementary form thereof selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2;

(ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3;

(iii) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and

(iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing under low stringency conditions at 42°C to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

The nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 defines the gene, mcg4. This gene encodes a product, MCG4, having an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3.

Even yet another aspect ofthe present invention provides a genetic construct comprising a vector portion and an animal, more particularly a mammalian and even more particularly a human mcg4 gene portion, which mcg4 gene portion is capable of encoding an MCG4 polypeptide or a functional or immunologically interactive derivative thereof. Still yet another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg4, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcg4 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

Even still a further aspect of the present invention relates to a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg4, said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG4 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for detecting MCG4 or a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG4 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG4 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

A further aspect of the present invention contemplates an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) or a derivative thereof.

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4 or 6;

(ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 or 7;

(iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing under low stringency conditions to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

The nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4 or 6 defines the gene, mcg7. This gene encodes a product, MCG7, having an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 or 7.

Even yet another aspect ofthe present invention provides a genetic construct comprising a vector portion and an animal, more particularly a mammalian and even more particularly a human mcg7 gene portion, which mcg7 gene portion is capable of encoding an MCG7 polypeptide or a functional or immunologically interactive derivative thereof.

Still yet another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg7, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcg7 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

Even still a further aspect of the present invention relates to a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg7, said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG7 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for detecting MCG7 or a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG7 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG7 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

Yet another aspect of the present invention contemplates an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a heat shock protein or a heat shock binding protein or a derivative thereof. Another aspect of the present invention is directed to an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides or a complementary form thereof selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:8; (ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:9;

(iii) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and (iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing under low stringency conditions at 41°C to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

The nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:8 defines the gene, mcgl8. This gene encodes a product, MCG18, having an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:7.

Even yet another aspect ofthe present invention provides a genetic construct comprising a vector portion and an animal, more particularly a mammalian and even more particularly a human mcgl8 gene portion, which meg 18 gene portion is capable of encoding an MCG18 polypeptide or a functional or immunologically interactive derivative thereof.

Still yet another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in meg 18, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcgl8 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

Even still a further aspect of the present invention relates to a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in meg 18, said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG18 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for detecting MCG18 or a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG18 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG18 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

A summary of SEQ ID Nos. referred to in the subject specification is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF SEQ ID Nos.

SEQ ID NO. DESCRIPTION

1 amino acid repeat sequence in DnaJ homologues

2 Nucleotide sequence of mcg4

3 amino acid sequence of MCG4

4 nucleotide sequence of mcg7 5 amino acid sequence of MCG7

6 nucleotide sequence of mcg7 within exon of nucleotides 183-288

7 amino acid sequence of MCG7 within exon of nucleotide 183-288

8 nucleotide sequence of meg 18

9 amino acid sequence of MCG 18 10-18 amino acid sequence identified using BESTFTT

19 sequence of pGEX and mcg7 junction

20 sequence of pGEX and mcg7 junction

21 nucleotide sequence of myc-tag/mcg7 junction

22 amino acid sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 21 23 nucleotide sequence of pGEX and meg 7 junction

24 amino acid sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 23

25-36 meg 7- specific oligonucleotide

37-45 mcgiS-specific oligonucleotide

Single and three letter abbreviations for amino acid residues are shown in Table 2. TABLE 2

Amino Acid Three-letter One-letter

Abbreviation Symbol

Alanine Ala A

Arginine Arg R

Asparagine Asn N

Aspartic acid Asp D Cysteine Cys C

Glutamine Gin Q

Glutamic acid Glu E

Glycine Gly G

Histidine His H Isoleucine fie I

Leucine Leu L

Lysine Lys K

Methionine Met M

Phenylalanine Phe F Proline Pro P

Serine Ser S

Threonine Thr T

Tryptophan Trp w

Tyrosine Tyr Y Valine Val V

Any residue Xaa X BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 is a representation of the nucleotide sequence [SEQ ID NO:2] and corresponding amino acid sequence [SEQ ID NO:3] of mcg4.

Figure 2 is a representation of the alignment of the human MCG4 amino acid sequence with a translation of a partial murine expressed sequence tag (EST).

Figure 3 is a representation of the alignment of the human MCG4 amino acid sequence with a translation of a partial nematode EST.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic representation showing a predicted structure of MCG4 where H and C represent histidine and cysteine residues, respectively and X refers to any amino acid residue. Zn represent zinc atoms.

Figure 5 is a representation of sensitive sequence homology search of related cysteine-containing motifs in another Caenorhabditis elegans protein.

Figure 6 is a representation showing that a related cysteine containing motif is present in the GATA-binding transcription factor from Saccharomyces pombe.

Figure 7 is a Northern blot showing expression of mcg4 in various cultured human cancer cell lines. Lanes 1-5, respectively, represent the hybridization signal from 15μg total RNA derived from various human cancer cell lines. Lanes 1-5, respectively, contain RNA from H69 lung carcinoma cells, JAM ovary carcinoma cells, BT20 breast carcinoma cells, HaCat transformed keratinocytes, T24 bladder carcinoma cells.

Figure 8 is a representation of a partial alignment of mcg4 with human ESTs AA074703 and AA134788.

Figure 9 is a representation of the partial nucleotide sequence alignment between a human (W32939) and mouse (AA242159) mcg4-like EST in the putative 5' UTR of the mcg4 cDNA. The putative initiation codon is underlined and the region upstream represents 5' UTR.

Figure 10 is a representation showing Mac Vector alignment of MCG4 with forward translations of ESTs AA134788 and AA074703. The nucleotide sequences are shown in Figure 8.

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic representation of the domains of MCG4 zinc finger consensus: CX₂HX₄CX₂CX₄HX₂CX₁₇CX₂CX_lgHX₂CX₁₈CX₂C acidic domain consensus: 9/34 amino acids negatively charged, 0/34 positively charged basic domain consensus: 13/55 amino acids positively charged, 0/55 negatively charged leucine zipper domain consensus: LX₆LX₆RX₆LX₆L alternate "novel" leucine zipper-like motif where leucine would not be aligned along the one surface of an alpha he)ix domain: (aa261) LX₆LXLX₆LXLX₆L (aa 286).

Figure 12 is a representation showing similarity of MCG7 with GEFs of various organisms.

Figure 13(a) is a representation of the nucleotide sequence [SEQ ID NO:4] and corresponding amino acid sequence [SEQ ID NO:5] of meg 7. Nucleotides 183-288 are an alternative spliced exon (shown in lower case).

Figure 13(b) is a representation of the partial nucleotide sequence [SEQ ID NO: 6] and corresponding amino acid sequence [SEQ ID NO:7] of mcg7 but without the exon shown in Fig. 13(a). Amino acids have been numbered from the first methionine codon (underlined). The cDNA molecules of Fig. 13(a) and Fig. 13(b) differ by the inclusion and exclusion of the exon of nucleotides 183-288.

Figure 14 is a representation showing a comparison between MCG7 and a homologue from Caenorhabditis elegans using the BESTFTT algorithm, in the figure, the following sequences are underlined:

EF-Hand= PROSITE DATABASE NO. PDOC00018 la nematode DVDEEDEVEDIEF [SEQ ID NO: 10] lb human DVDGDGHISQEEF [SEQ ID NO: 11] nematode DHDRDGFISQEEF [SEQ ID NO: 12] lc human DQNQDGCISREEM [SEQ ID NO: 13] nematode DVDMDGQISKDEL [SEQ ID NO: 14]

GUANINE NT BINDING REGION = BLOCKS DATABASE NO. BL00720B

2 human H-FVHVAEKIlX3LQNFNTLMA\NGGLSHSSISRLKETH[SEQIDNO:15] nematode KFVHVAKHLRKINNFNTLMSVVGGITHSSVARLAKTY [SEQ ID NO: 16]

DaG-PE BINDING DOMAIN = PROSITE DATABASE NO. PD0C00379

3 human HNFQESNSLRPVACRHCKALILGIYKQGLKCRACGVNCHKQCKDRLSVEC

[SEQ ID NO: 17] nematode H MIETTFLTPTTCNHCNKLLWGILRQGFKCKDCGLAVHSCCKSNAVAEC [SEQ ID NO: 18]

Figure 15 is a representation of an alignment of human and a partial (5 ' UTR and partial coding sequence) murine mcgl cDNA (GenBank Ace. No. W71787 and AA237373). The putative initiation codon is underlined. The murine sequence represents a composite of 2 partial cDNA sequences from the EST database (accession numbers W71787 and AA237373). Nucleotide differences between human and murine sequences are shown in lower case lettering and identical residues are indicated with asterisks.

Figure 16 is a representation of further 5' nucleotide and corresponding amino acid sequence for human mcgl. Nucleotide positions 1-321 were derived from GenBank Ace. No. AC000134 and nucleotides 322 onwards from Fig. 13(a). Two in-frame initiation codons are underlined. Asterisks denote in-frame stop codons.

Figure 17 is a graphical representation of a GDP release assay. □ Experiment #1 (mean of duplicates). 0 Experiment #2 (mean of duplicates). The exchange reaction contained 36pmols of GST-MCG (N-terminally truncated; encoded by Construct B in Fig. 18) and 1.6-12.8 pmols of recombinant GST-N-Ras.GDP. Reaction time 6 mins. Estimated reaction constants: K,,, = 2JμM, V^ = 37pMol/6min/36pMol [Expt#l] 1^ = 1.5μM, V^ = 30.3pMol 6 min/36pMol [Expt#2]

Figure 18 depicts various recombinant plasmids containing partial or full-length mcg7.

Figure 19 is a representation of the nucleotide sequence [SEQ ID NO:8] and corresponding amino acid sequence [SEQ ID NO:9] of mcgl8.

Figure 20 is a representation showing that MCG18 has partial homology to E. coli DnaJ.

Figure 21 is a representation showing that MCG18 has homology to two Caenorhabitis elegans proteins.

Figure 22 is a representation showing that MCG18 has homology to a Saccharomyces pombe protein.

Figure 23 is a representation showing homology of MCG18 to a Drosophila virilis protein.

Figure 24 is a representation showing homology of MCG18 to human DnaJ proteins HDJ- 2/HSDJ, HDJ-1/HSP40 and HSJ1.

Figure 25 is a representation of the nucleotide and corresponding amino acid sequence of murine mcgl 8.

Figure 26 is a representation of homology between human and murine MCG18.

Figure 27 depicts nucleotide sequences corresponding to the 5' untranslated region of human meg 18. Figure 28 depicts a Northern blot showing expression oϊmcgl8 transcripts in total RNA isolated from various human cancer cell lines grown in culture. Lanes 1-5 respectively contain 15μg RNA from H69 lung carcinoma cells, JAM ovary carcinoma cells, BT20 breast carcinoma cells, HaCat transformed keratinocytes, T24 bladder carcinoma cells.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a regulator of gene expression or a derivative of said gene regulator.

More particularly, the present invention is directed to an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding a regulator of gene expression wherein said regulator comprises a zinc finger domain of an (HC₃)₂ type.

Still more particularly, the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides or a complementary form thereof selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2;

The present invention also provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) or a derivative thereof.

More particularly, the present invention is directed to an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides or a complementary form thereof selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4 or 6; (ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 or 7; (iii) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and (iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing under low stringency conditions at 42°C to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a heat shock protein or a heat shock-binding protein or a derivative thereof.

(iii) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and (iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridizing under low stringency conditions at 42°C to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

Preferably, the percentage similarity is at least about 50%. More preferably, the percentage similarity is at least about 60%.

Reference herein to a low stringency at 42 °C includes and encompasses from at least about 1% v/v to at least about 15% v/v formamide and from at least about IM to at least about 2M salt for hybridisation, and at least about IM to at least about 2M salt for washing conditions. Alternative stringency conditions may be applied where necessary, such as medium stringency, which includes and encompasses from at least about 16% v/v to at least about 30% v/v formamide and from at least about 0.5M to at least about 0.9M salt for hybridisation, and at least about 0.5M to at least about 0.9M salt for washing conditions, or high stringency, which includes and encompasses from at least about 31% v/v to at least about 50% v/v formamide and from at least about 0.01M to at least about 0J5M salt for hybridisation, and at least about 0.01M to at least about 0J5M salt for washing conditions.

The term "similarity" as used herein includes exact identity between compared sequences at the nucleotide or amino acid level. Where there is non-identity at the nucleotide level, "similarity" includes differences between sequences which result in different amino acids that are nevertheless related to each other at the structural, functional, biochemical and/or conformational levels. Where there is non-identity at the amino acid level, "similarity" includes amino acids that are nevertheless related to each other at the structural, functional, biochemical and/or conformational levels.

The present invention extends to nucleic acid molecules with percentage similarities of approximately 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% or above or a percentage in between.

The nucleic acid molecule of the present invention defined by SEQ ID NO: 2 is hereinafter referred to as constituting the "mcg4" gene. The protein encoded by mcg4 is referred to herein as "MCG4"and has an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3. The mcg4 gene is proposed to encode, in accordance with the present invention, a regulator of gene expression and comprises a novel zinc finger domain, (HC₃)₂. A regulator of gene expression includes a transcription factor. Regulation may be at the level of nucleic acid:protein or protein: protein interaction.

The nucleic acid molecule of the present invention defined by SEQ ID NO:4 or 6 is hereinafter referred to as constituting the "mcg7" gene. The protein encoded by mcg7 is referred to herein as "MCG7" and has an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 5 or 7 and is involved in signal transduction. The difference in the nucleotide and amino acid sequence is due to the presence or absence of an exon at nucleotides 183-288.

The nucleic acid molecule of the present invention defined by SEQ ID NO: 8 is hereinafter referred to as constituting the "mcgl8" gene. The protein encoded by mcgl8 is referred to herein as "MCG18" and comprises the amino acid set forth in SEQ ID NO:9. The present invention extends to the naturally occurring genomic mcg4, mcg7 and mcgl 8 nucleotide sequences or corresponding cDNA sequences or to derivatives thereof. Derivatives contemplated in the present invention include fragments, parts, portions, mutants, homologues and analogues of MCG4, MCG7 or MCG8 or the corresponding genetic sequences. Derivatives also include single or multiple amino acid substitutions, deletions and or additions to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG18 or single or multiple nucleotide substitutions, deletions and/or additions to mcg4, mcg7 or mcg!8. "Additions" to the amino acid or nucleotide sequences include fusions with other peptides, polypeptides or proteins or fusions to nucleotide sequences. Reference herein to "MCG4" or "mcg4", "MCG7" or "mcg7" or "MCG8" or meg 18" includes reference to all derivatives thereof including functional derivatives and immunologically interactive derivatives of MCG4, MCG7 or MCG18.

The mcg4, mcg7 and mcgl8 of the present invention are particularly exemplified herein from humans and in particular from human chromosome 1 lql3.

The present invention extends, however, to a range of homologues from, for example, primates, livestock animals (eg. sheep, cows, horses, donkeys, pigs), companion animals (eg. dogs, cats) laboratory test animals (eg. rabbits, mice, rats, guinea pigs), reptiles, birds (eg. chickens, ducks, geese, parrots), insects, nematodes, eukaryotic microorganisms and captive wild animals (eg. deer, foxes, kangaroos). Reference herein to mcg4 and mcgl8 or their respective proteins MCG4, MCG7 and MCG18 includes reference to these molecules of human origin as well as novel forms of non-human origin.

The nucleic acid molecules of the present invention may be DNA or RNA. When the nucleic acid molecule is in DNA form, it may be genomic DNA or cDNA. RNA forms of the nucleic acid molecules of the present invention are generally mRNA.

Although the nucleic acid molecules of the present invention are generally in isolated form, they may be integrated into or ligated to or otherwise fused or associated with other genetic molecules such as vector molecules and in particular expression vector molecules. Vectors and expression vectors are generally capable of replication and, if applicable, expression in one or both of a prokaryotic cell or a eukaryotic cell. Preferably, prokaryotic cells include E. coli, Bacillus sp and Pseudomonas sp. Preferred eukaryotic cells include yeast, fungal, mammalian and insect cells.

Accordingly, another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a genetic construct comprising a vector portion and an animal, more particularly a mammalian and even more particularly a human mcg4 gene portion, which mcg4 gene portion is capable of encoding an MCG4 polypeptide or a functional or immunologically interactive derivative thereof.

Preferably, the mcg4 gene portion of the genetic construct is operably linked to a promoter in the vector such that said promoter is capable of directing expression of said mcg4 gene portion in an appropriate cell.

In addition, the mcg4 gene portion of the genetic construct may comprise all or part of the gene fused to another genetic sequence such as a nucleotide sequence encoding glutathione-S- transferase or part thereof.

The present invention extends to such genetic constructs and to prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells comprising same.

It is proposed in accordance with the present invention that MCG4 is a transcription factor involved in gene regulation. Mutations in mcg4 may result in aberrations in gene regulation leading to the development of or a propensity to develop various types of cancer. In this regard, although not wishing to limit the present invention to any one hypothesis or mode of action, it is proposed that mcg4 or its expression product may be involved in the tissue-specific or temporal regulation of particular genes.

A deletion or aberration in the mcg4 gene may also be important in the detection of cancer or a propensity to develop cancer. An aberration may be a homozygous mutation or a heterozygous mutation. The detection may occur at the foetal or post-natal level. Detection may also be at the germline or somatic cell level. Furthermore, a risk of developing cancer may be determined by assaying for aberrations in the parents and or proband of a subject under investigation.

According to this aspect of the present invention, there is contemplated a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg4, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcg4 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

Another aspect of the present invention contemplates a genetic construct comprising a vector portion and an animal, more particularly a mammalian and even more particularly a human mcg7 gene portion, which mcg7 gene portion is capable of encoding an mcg7 polypeptide or a functional or immunologically interactive derivative thereof.

Preferably, the mcg7 gene portion of the genetic construct is operably linked to a promoter on the vector such that said promoter is capable of directing expression of said mcg7 gene portion in an appropriate cell.

In addition, the mcg7 gene portion of the genetic construct may comprise all or part of the gene fused to another genetic sequence such as a nucleotide sequence encoding glutathione-S- transferase or part thereof.

It is proposed in accordance with the present invention that MCG7 is a GEF involved in signal transduction. Mutations in mcg7 or MCG7 may result in defective control of cell proliferation leading to the development of or a propensity to develop various types of cancer.

A deletion or aberration in the mcg7 gene may also be important in the detection of cancer or a propensity to develop cancer. An aberration may be a homozygous mutation or a heterozygous mutation. The detection may occur at the foetal or post-natal level. Detection may also be at the germline or somatic cell level. Furthermore, a risk of developing cancer may be determined by assaying for aberrations in the parents of a subject under investigation.

According to this aspect of the present invention, there is contemplated a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg7, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcg7 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

Yet another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a genetic construct comprising a vector portion and an animal, more particularly a mammalian and even more particularly a human mcgl8 gene portion, which mcgl 8 gene portion is capable of encoding an MCG18 polypeptide or a functional or immunologically interactive derivative thereof.

Preferably, the mcgl8 gene portion of the genetic construct is operably linked to a promoter on the vector such that said promoter is capable of directing expression of said mcgl 8 gene portion in an appropriate cell.

In addition, the mcgl 8 gene portion ofthe genetic construct may comprise all or part of the gene fused to another genetic sequence such as a nucleotide sequence encoding glutathione-S- transferase or part thereof.

It is proposed in accordance with the present invention that MCG18 is a transcription factor involved in protein folding, protein complex assembly and transit through subcellular compartments. MCG18 may also have a role in tumour suppression. Thus mutations in meg 18 may result in the development of or a propensity to develop various types of cancer.

A deletion or aberration in the mcgl 8 gene may also be important in the detection of cancer or a propensity to develop cancer. An aberration may be a homozygous mutation or a heterozygous mutation. The detection may occur at the foetal or post-natal level. Detection may also be at the germline or somatic cell level. Furthermore, a risk of developing cancer may be determined by assaying for aberrations in the parents and/or proband of the subject under investigation.

According to this aspect of the present invention, there is contemplated a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in meg 18, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcgl 8 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

The nucleotide substitutions, additions or deletions may be detected by any convenient means including nucleotide sequencing, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), oligonucleotide hybridization and single stranded conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP) amongst many others. An aberration includes modification to existing nucleotides such as to modify glycosylation signal amongst other effects.

In an alternative method, aberrations in the mcg4, mcg7 and mcgl8 genes are detected by screening for mutations in MCG4, MCG7 and MCG18, respectively.

A mutation in MCG4, MCG7 or MCG18 may be a single or multiple amino acid substitution, addition and/or deletion. The mutation in mcg4, mcg7 or mcgl8 may also result in either no translation product being produced or a product in truncated form. A mutant may also be an altered glycosylation pattern or the introduction of side chain modifications to amino acid residues. According to this aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg4, mcg7 or mcgl8 said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG18 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

A particularly convenient means of detecting a mutation in MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 is by use of antibodies.

Accordingly another aspect of the present invention is directed to antibodies to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 and its derivatives. Such antibodies may be monoclonal or polyclonal and may be selected from naturally occurring antibodies to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or may be specifically raised to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or derivatives thereof. In the case of the latter, MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or their derivatives may first need to be associated with a carrier molecule. The antibodies to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 of the present invention are particularly useful as diagnostic agents.

For example, antibodies to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 and their derivatives can be used to screen for wild-type MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or for mutated MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 molecules. The latter may occur, for example, during or prior to certain cancer development. A differential binding assay is also particularly useful. Techniques for such assays are well known in the art and include, for example, sandwich assays and ELISA. Knowledge of normal MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 levels or the presence of wild- type MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 may be important for diagnosis of certain cancers or a predisposition for development of cancers or for monitoring certain therapeutic protocols.

As stated above antibodies to MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 of the present invention may be monoclonal or poly lonal or may be fragments of antibodies such as Fab fragments. Furthermore, the present invention extends to recombinant and synthetic antibodies and to antibody hybrids. A "synthetic antibody" is considered herein to include fragments and hybrids of antibodies. For example, specific antibodies can be used to screen for wild-type MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 molecule or specific mutant molecules such as molecules having a certain deletion. This would be important, for example, as a means for screening for levels of MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 in a cell extract or other biological fluid or purifying MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 made by recombinant means from culture supernatant fluid or purified from a cell extract. Techniques for the assays contemplated herein are known in the art and include, for example, sandwich assays and ELISA.

It is within the scope of this invention to include any second antibodies (monoclonal, polyclonal or fragments of antibodies or synthetic antibodies) directed to the first mentioned antibodies discussed above. Both the first and second antibodies may be used in detection assays or a first antibody may be used with a commercially available anti-immunoglobulin antibody. An antibody as contemplated herein includes any antibody specific to any region of wild-type MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or to a specific mutant phenotype or to a deleted or otherwise altered region.

Both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are obtainable by immunization of a suitable animal or bird with MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or its derivatives and either type is utilizable for immunoassays. The methods of obtaining both types of sera are well known in the art. Polyclonal sera are less preferred but are relatively easily prepared by injection of a suitable laboratory animal or bird with an effective amount of MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or antigenic parts thereof or derivatives thereof, collecting serum from the animal or bird, and isolating specific sera by any ofthe known immunoadsorbent techniques. Although antibodies produced by this method are utilizable in virtually any type of immunoassay, they are generally less favoured because of the potential heterogeneity of the product.

The use of monoclonal antibodies in an immunoassay is particularly preferred because of the ability to produce them in large quantities and the homogeneity of the product. The preparation of hybridoma cell lines for monoclonal antibody production derived by fusing an immortal cell line and lymphocytes sensitized against the immunogenic preparation can be done by techniques which are well known to those who are skilled in the art. Another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a method for detecting MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

Preferably, the biological sample is a cell extract from a human or other animal or a bird.

The presence of MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 may be accomplished in a number of ways such as by Western blotting and ELISA procedures. A wide range of immunoassay techniques are available as can be seen by reference to US Patent Nos. 4,016,043, 4, 424,279 and 4,018,653. These include both single-site and two-site or "sandwich" assays of the non-competitive types, as well as traditional competitive binding assays. These assays also include direct binding of a labelled antibody to a target.

Sandwich assays are among the most useful and commonly used assays and are favoured for use in the present invention. A number of variations of the sandwich assay technique exist, and all are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. Briefly, in a typical forward assay, an unlabelled antibody is immobilized on a solid substrate and the sample to be tested brought into contact with the bound molecule. After a suitable period of incubation, for a period of time sufficient to allow formation of an antibody-antigen complex, a second antibody specific to the antigen, labelled with a reporter molecule capable of producing a detectable signal is then added and incubated, allowing time sufficient for the formation of another complex of antibody-antigen- labelled antibody. Any unreacted material is washed away, and the presence of the antigen is determined by observation of a signal produced by the reporter molecule. The results may either be qualitative, by simple observation of the visible signal, or may be quantitated by comparing with a control sample containing known amounts of hapten. Variations on the forward assay include a simultaneous assay, in which both sample and labelled antibody are added simultaneously to the bound antibody. These techniques are well known to those skilled in the art, including any minor variations as will be readily apparent. In accordance with the present invention the sample is one which might contain MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 including cell extract or tissue biopsy. The sample is, therefore, generally a biological sample comprising biological fluid but also extends to fermentation fluid and supernatant fluid such as from a cell culture.

In the typical forward sandwich assay, a first antibody having specificity for the MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or an antigenic part thereof or a derivative thereof or antigenic parts thereof, is either covalently or passively bound to a solid surface. The solid surface is typically glass or a polymer, the most commonly used polymers being cellulose, polyacrylamide, nylon, polystyrene, poly vinyl chloride or polypropylene. The solid supports may be in the form of tubes, beads, discs of microplates, or any other surface suitable for conducting an immunoassay. The binding processes are well-known in the art and generally consist of cross-linking covalently binding or physically adsorbing, the polymer-antibody complex is washed in preparation for the test sample. An aliquot ofthe sample to be tested is then added to the solid phase complex and incubated for a period of time sufficient (e.g. 2-40 minutes or overnight if more convenient) and under suitable conditions (e.g. from room temperature to 37 °C) to allow binding of any subunit present in the antibody. Following the incubation period, the antibody subunit solid phase is washed and dried and incubated with a second antibody specific for a portion of the hapten. The second antibody is linked to a reporter molecule which is used to indicate the binding of the second antibody to the hapten.

An alternative method involves immobilizing the target molecules in the biological sample and then exposing the immobilized target to specific antibody which may or may not be labelled with a reporter molecule. Depending on the amount of target and the strength of the reporter molecule signal, a bound target may be detectable by direct labelling with the antibody. Alternatively, a second labelled antibody, specific to the first antibody is exposed to the target- first antibody complex to form a target-first antibody-second antibody tertiary complex. The complex is detected by the signal emitted by the reporter molecule.

By "reporter molecule" as used in the present specification, is meant a molecule which, by its chemical nature, provides an analytically identifiable signal which allows the detection of antigen- bound antibody. Detection may be either qualitative or quantitative. The most commonly used reporter molecules in this type of assay are either enzymes, fluorophores or radionuclide containing molecules (i.e. radioisotopes) and chemiluminescent molecules. In the case of an enzyme immunoassay, an enzyme is conjugated to the second antibody, generally by means of glutaraldehyde or periodate. As will be readily recognized, however, a wide variety of different conjugation techniques exist, which are readily available to the skilled artisan. Commonly used enzymes include horseradish peroxidase, glucose oxidase, beta- galactosidase and alkaline phosphatase, amongst others. The substrates to be used with the specific enzymes are generally chosen for the production, upon hydrolysis by the corresponding enzyme, of a detectable colour change. Examples of suitable enzymes include alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase. It is also possible to employ fluorogenic substrates, which yield a fluorescent product rather than the chromogenic substrates noted above. In all cases, the enzyme-labelled antibody is added to the first antibody hapten complex, allowed to bind, and then the excess reagent is washed away. A solution containing the appropriate substrate is then added to the complex of antibody-antigen-antibody. The substrate will react with the enzyme linked to the second antibody, giving a qualitative visual signal, which may be further quantitated, usually spectrophotometrically, to give an indication of the amount of hapten which was present in the sample. "Reporter molecule" also extends to use of cell agglutination or inhibition of agglutination such as red blood cells on latex beads, and the like.

Alternately, fluorescent compounds, such as fluorescein and rhodamine, may be chemically coupled to antibodies without altering their binding capacity. When activated by illumination with light of a particular wavelength, the fluorochrome-labelled antibody adsorbs the light energy, inducing a state to excitability in the molecule, followed by emission of the fight at a characteristic colour visually detectable with a light microscope. As in the EIA, the fluorescent labelled antibody is allowed to bind to the first antibody-hapten complex. After washing off the unbound reagent, the remaining tertiary complex is then exposed to the light of the appropriate wavelength the fluorescence observed indicates the presence of the hapten of interest.

Immunofluorescence and EIA techniques are both very well established in the art and are particularly preferred for the present method. However, other reporter molecules, such as radioisotope, chemiluminescent or bioluminescent molecules, may also be employed.

As stated above, the present invention extends to genetic constructs capable of encoding MCG4, MCG7 or MCG 18 or functional derivatives thereof. Such genetic constructs are also contemplated to be useful in modulating expression of specific genes in which mcg4, mcg7 or mcgl 8 is involved in tissue-specific or temporal regulation.

Accordingly, another aspect ofthe present invention is directed to a genetic construct comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a peptide, polypeptide or protein and mcg4, mcg7 or mcgl8 or a functional derivative or homologue thereof capable of modulating the expression of said nucleotide sequence.

As stated above, MCG 18 is proposed to have a role in tumour suppression. Accordingly, it is further proposed in accordance with the present invention to use recombinant MCG 18 in pharmaceutical preparations for treating arresting or otherwise ameliorating the effects of certain cancers.

Accordingly, another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for treating, arresting or otherwise ameliorating the effects of a cancer in an animal or bird, said method comprising administering to said animal or bird an effective amount of MCG 18 or a functional derivative thereof for a time and under conditions sufficient to treat, arrest or otherwise ameliorate the effects of said cancer.

The present invention, therefore, contemplates a pharmaceutical composition comprising MCG 18 or a derivative thereof or a modulator of meg 18 expression or MCG 18 activity and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers and/or diluents. These components are referred to hereinafter as the "active ingredients". The active ingredients may also include anti -cancer agents or agents which facilitate actions of MCG 18.

The pharmaceutical forms suitable for injectable use include sterile aqueous solutions (where water soluble) and sterile powders for the extemporaneous preparation of sterile injectable solutions. It must be stable under the conditions of manufacture and storage and must be preserved against the contaminating action of microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. The carrier may be a solvent medium containing, for example, water, ethanol, polyol (for example, glycerol, propylene glycol and liquid polyethylene glycol, and the like), suitable mixtures thereof, and vegetable oils. The proper fluidity can be maintained, for example, by the use of a coating such as licithin and by the use of superfactants. The preventions of the action of microorganisms can be brought about by various antibacterial and antifungal agents, for example, parabens, 5 chlorobutanol, phenol, sorbic acid, thimersal and the like. In many cases, it will be preferable to include isotonic agents, for example, sugars or sodium chloride. Prolonged absoφtion of the injectable compositions can be brought about by the use in the compositions of agents delaying absorption, for example, aluminum monostearate and gelatin.

10 Sterile injectable solutions are prepared by incorporating the active compounds in the required amount in the appropriate solvent with various of the other ingredients enumerated above, as required, followed by filtered sterilization. In the case of sterile powders for the preparation of sterile injectable solutions, the preferred methods of preparation are vacuum drying and the freeze-drying technique which yield a powder ofthe active ingredient plus any additional desired

15 ingredient from previously sterile-filtered solution thereof.

When the active ingredients are suitably protected they may be orally administered, for example, with an inert diluent or with an assimilable edible carrier, or it may be enclosed in hard or soft shell gelatin capsule, or it may be compressed into tablets, or it may be incorporated directly with

20 the food of the diet. For oral therapeutic administration, the active compound may be incorporated with excipients and used in the form of ingestible tablets, buccal tablets, troches, capsules, elixirs, suspensions, syrups, wafers, and the like. Such compositions and preparations should contain at least 1% by weight of active compound. The percentage of the compositions and preparations may, of course, be varied and may conveniently be between about 5 to about

25 80% of the weight of the unit. The amount of active compound in such therapeutically useful compositions in such that a suitable dosage will be obtained. Preferred compositions or preparations according to the present invention are prepared so that an oral dosage unit form contains between about OJ μg and 2000 mg of active compound.

30 The tablets, troches, pills, capsules and the like may also contain the components as Usted hereafter. A binder such as gum, acacia, corn starch or gelatin; excipients such as dicalcium phosphate; a disintegrating agent such as corn starch, potato starch, alginic acid and the like; a lubricant such as magnesium stearate; and a sweetening agent such a sucrose, lactose or saccharin may be added or a flavouring agent such as peppermint, oil of wintergreen, or cherry flavouring. When the dosage unit form is a capsule, it may contain, in addition to materials of the above type, a liquid carrier. Various other materials may be present as coatings or to otherwise modify the physical form of the dosage unit. For instance, tablets, pills, or capsules may be coated with shellac, sugar or both. A syrup or elixir may contain the active compound, sucrose as a sweetening agent, methyl and propylparabens as preservatives, a dye and flavouring such as cherry or orange flavour. Of course, any material used in preparing any dosage unit form should be pharmaceutically pure and substantially non-toxic in the amounts employed. In addition, the active compound(s) may be incorporated into sustained-release preparations and formulations.

The present invention also extends to forms suitable for topical application such as creams, lotions and gels.

Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers and/or diluents include any and all solvents, dispersion media, coatings, antibacterial and antifungal agents, isotonic and absorption delaying agents and the like. The use of such media and agents for pharmaceutical active substances is well known in the art. Except insofar as any conventional media or agent is incompatible with the active ingredient, use thereof in the therapeutic compositions is contemplated. Supplementary active ingredients can also be incorporated into the compositions.

It is especially advantageous to formulate parenteral compositions in dosage unit form for ease of administration and uniformity of dosage. Dosage unit form as used herein refers to physically discrete units suited as unitary dosages for the mammalian subjects to be treated; each unit containing a predetermined quantity of active material calculated to produce the desired therapeutic effect in association with the required pharmaceutical carrier. The specification for the novel dosage unit forms of the invention are dictated by and directly dependent on (a) the unique characteristics ofthe active material and the particular therapeutic effect to be achieved, and (b) the limitations inherent in the art of compounding such an active material for the treatment of disease in living subjects having a diseased condition in which bodily health is impaired as herein disclosed in detail.

The principal active ingredient is compounded for convenient and effective administration in effective amounts with a suitable pharmaceutically acceptable carrier in dosage unit form as hereinbefore disclosed. A unit dosage form can, for example, contain the principal active compound in amounts ranging from 0.5 μg to about 2000 mg. Expressed in proportions, the active compound is generally present in from about 0.5 μg to about 2000 mg/ml of carrier. In the case of compositions containing supplementary active ingredients, the dosages are determined by reference to the usual dose and manner of administration of the said ingredients.

Effective amounts contemplated by the present invention include those amounts effective to ameliorate a condition. For example, it is envisaged that effective amounts would range from about 0.001 μg/kg body weight to about 100 mg/kg body weight. Alternatively, effective amounts of about 0.01 μg/kg body weight to about 10 mg/kg body weight or even 0.1 μg/kg body weight to about 1 mg/kg body weight. Administration may be per minute, hour, day, week, month or year or may only be a once off administration.

The pharmaceutical composition may also comprise genetic molecules such as a vector capable of transfecting target cells where the vector carries a nucleic acid molecule capable of modulating mcgl 8 expression or MCG 18 activity. The vector may, for example, be a viral vector.

As stated above, the present invention further contemplates a range of derivatives of MCG 18.

Derivatives include fragments, parts, portions, mutants, homologues and analogues of the MCG 18 polypeptide and corresponding genetic sequence. Derivatives also include single or multiple amino acid substitutions, deletions and or additions to MCG 18 or single or multiple nucleotide substitutions, deletions and/or additions to the genetic sequence encoding MCG 18.

"Additions" to amino acid sequences or nucleotide sequences include fusions with other peptides, polypeptides or proteins or fusions to nucleotide sequences. Reference herein to "MCG18" includes reference to all derivatives thereof including functional derivatives or MCG18 immunologically interactive derivatives. Analogues of MCG 18 contemplated herein include, but are not limited to, modification to side chains, incorporating of unnatural amino acids and/or their derivatives during peptide, polypeptide or protein synthesis and the use of crosslinkers and other methods which impose conformational constraints on the proteinaceous molecule or their analogues.

Examples of side chain modifications contemplated by the present invention include modifications of amino groups such as by reductive alkylation by reaction with an aldehyde followed by reduction with NaBH^ amidination with methylacetimidate; acylation with acetic anhydride; carbamoylation of amino groups with cyanate; trinitrobenzylation of amino groups with 2, 4, 6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS); acylation of amino groups with succinic anhydride and tetrahydrophthalic anhydride; and pyridoxylation of lysine with pyridoxal-5- phosphate followed by reduction with NaBHψ

The guanidine group of arginine residues may be modified by the formation of heterocyclic condensation products with reagents such as 2,3-butanedione, phenylglyoxal and glyoxal.

The carboxyl group may be modified by carbodiimide activation via O-acylisourea formation followed by subsequent derivitisation, for example, to a corresponding amide.

Sulphydryl groups may be modified by methods such as carboxymethylation with iodoacetic acid or iodoacetamide; performic acid oxidation to cysteic acid; formation of a mixed disulphides with other thiol compounds; reaction with maleimide, maleic anhydride or other substituted maleimide; formation of mercurial derivatives using 4-chloromercuribenzoate, 4- chloromercuriphenylsulphonic acid, phenylmercury chloride, 2-chloromercuri-4-nitrophenol and other mercurials; carbamoylation with cyanate at alkaline pH.

Tryptophan residues may be modified by, for example, oxidation with N-bromosuccinimide or alkylation of the indole ring with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide o.- sulphenyl halides. Tyrosine residues on the other hand, may be altered by nitration with tetranitromethane to form a 3-nitrotyrosine derivative. Modification ofthe imidazole ring of a histidine residue may be accomplished by alkylation with iodoacetic acid derivatives or N-carbethoxylation with diethylpyrocarbonate.

Examples of incorporating unnatural amino acids and derivatives during peptide synthesis include, but are not hmited to, use of norleucine, 4-amino butyric acid, 4-amino-3-hydroxy-5- phenylpentanoic acid, 6-aminohexanoic acid, t-butylglycine, norvaline, phenylglycine, ornithine, sarcosine, 4-amino-3-hydroxy-6-methylheptanoic acid, 2-thienyl alanine and/or D-isomers of amino acids. A list of unnatural amino acids, contemplated herein is shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3

Non-conventional Code Non-conventional Code amino acid amino acid

α-aminobutyric acid Abu L-N-methylalanine Nmala α-amino-α-methylbutyrate Mgabu L-N-methylarginine Nmarg aminocyclopropane- Cpro L-N -methylasparagine Nmasn carboxylate L-N-methylaspartic acid Nmasp aminoisobutyric acid Aib L-N-methylcysteine Nmcys aminonorbornyl- Norb L-N-methylglutamine Nmgln carboxylate L-N-methylglutamic acid Nmglu cyclohexylalanine Chexa L-N-methylhistidine Nmhis cyclopentylalanine Cpen L-N-methyhsolleucine Nmile D-alanine Dal L-N-methylleucine Nmleu

D-arginine Darg L-N-methyllysine Nmlys

D-aspartic acid Dasp L-N-methylmethionine Nmmet

D-cysteine Dcys L-N-methylnorleucine Nmnle

D-glutamine Dgln L-N-methylnorvaline Nmnva D-glutamic acid Dglu L-N-methylornithine Nmorn

D-histidine Dhis L-N-methylphenylalanine Nmphe

D-isoleucine Dile L-N-methylproline Nmpro

D-leucine Dleu L-N-methylserine Nmser

D-lysine Dlys L-N-methylthreonine Nmthr D-methionine Dmet L-N-methyltryptophan Nmtrp

D-ornithine Dorn L-N-methyltyrosine Nmtyr

D-phenylalanine Dphe L-N-methylvaline Nmval

D-proline Dpro L-N-methylethylglycine Nmetg

D-serine Dser L-N-methyl-t-butylglycine Nmtbug D-threonine Dthr L-norleucine Nle

D-tryptophan Dtrp L-norvaline Nva D-tyrosine Dtyr α-methyl-aminoisobutyrate Maib

D-valine Dval α-methyl-γ -aminobutyrate Mgabu

D- α-methylalanine Dmala α-methylcyclohexylalanine Mchexa

D- α-methylarginine Dmarg α-methylcylcopentylalanine Mcpen D-α-methylasparagine Dmasn α-methy 1- α-napthylalanine Manap

D-α-methylaspartate Dmasp α-methylpenicillamine Mpen

D- α-methy ley steine Dmcys N-(4-aminobutyl)glycine Nglu

D-α-methylglutamine Dmgln N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine Naeg

D-α-methylhistidine Dmhis N-(3-aminopropyl)glycine Norn D-α-methylisoleucine Dmile N-amino-α-methylbutyrate Nmaabu

D- α-methy lleucine Dmleu α-napthylalanine Anap

D-α-methyllysine Dmlys N-benzylglycine Nphe

D-α-methylmethionine Dmmet N-(2-carbamylethyl)glycine Ngln

D- α-methy lornithine Dmorn N-(carbamylmethyl)glycine Nasn D- α-methy lphenylalanine Dmphe N-(2-carboxyethyl)glycine Nglu

D- α-methy lproline Dmpro N-(carboxymethyl)glycine Nasp

D- α-methy lserine Dmser N-cyclobutylglycine Ncbut

D-α-methylthreonine Dmthr N-cycloheptylglycine Nchep

D- α-methy ltryptophan Dmtrp N-cyclohexylglycine Nchex D- α-methy ltyrosine Dmty N-cyclodecylglycine Ncdec

D- α-methy lvaline Dmval N-cylcododecylglycine Ncdod

D-N-methylalanine Dnmala N-cyclooctylglycine Ncoct

D-N-methylarginine Dnmarg N-cyclopropylglycine Ncpro

D-N-methylasparagine Dnmasn N-cycloundecylglycine Ncund D-N-methylaspartate Dnmasp N-(2,2-diphenylethyl)glycine Nbhm

D-N-methylcysteine Dnmcys N-(3,3-diphenylpropyl)glycine Nbhe

D-N-methylglutamine Dnmgln N-(3-guanidinopropyl)glycine Narg

D-N-methylglutamate Dnmglu N-( 1 -hydroxyethyl)glycine Nthr

D-N-methylhistidine Dnmhis N-(hydroxyethyl))glycine Nser D-N-methylisoleucine Dnmile N-(imidazolylethyl))glycine Nhis

D-N-methylleucine Dnmleu N-(3-indolylyethyl)glycine Nhtrp D-N-methyllysine Dnmlys N-methyl-γ-aminobutyrate Nmgabu

N-methylcyclohexylalanine Nmchexa D-N-methylmethionine Dπmmet

D-N-methylornithine Dnmorn N-methylcyclopentylalanine Nmcpen

N-methylglycine Nala D-N-methylphenylalanine Dnmphe N-methylaminoisobutyrate Nmaib D-N-methylproline Dn pro

N-( 1 -methylpropy glycine Nile D-N-methylserine Dnmser

N-(2-methylpropyl)glycine Nleu D-N-methylthreonine Dnmthr

D-N-methyltryptophan Dnmtrp N-(l-methylethyl)glycine Nval

D-N-methyltyrosine Dnmtyr N-methyla-napthylalanine Nmanap D-N-methylvaline Dnmval N-methylpenicillamine Nmpen γ-aminobutyric acid Gabu N-(p-hydroxyphenyl)glycine Nhtyr

L-t-butylglycine Tbug N-(thiomethyl)glycine Ncys

L-ethylglycine Etg penicillamine Pen

L-homophenylalanine Hphe L- α-methylalanine Mala L-α-methylarginine Marg L-α-methylasparagine Masn

L-α-methylaspartate Masp L-α-methyl-t-butylglycine Mtbug

L-α-methylcy steine Mcys L-methylethylglycine Metg

L-α-methylglutamine Mgln L-α-methylglutamate Mglu

L-α-methylhistidine Mhis L- α-methy lhomophenylalanine Mhphe L-α-methyhsoleucine Mile N-(2-methylthioethyl)glycine Nmet

L-α-methylleucine Mleu L- α-methy Uysine Mlys

L-α-methylmethionine Mmet L-α-methylnorleucine Mnle

L-α-methylnorvaline Mnva L- α-methy lornithine Morn

L- α-methy lphenylalanine Mphe L- α-methy lproline Mpro L-α-methylserine Mser L- α-methy lthreonine Mthr

L-α-methyltryptophan Mtrp L-α-methyltyrosine Mtyr L- α-methy lvaline Mval L-N-methylhomophenylalanine Nmhphe

N-(N-(2,2-diphenylethyl) Nnbhm N-(N-(3,3-diphenylpropyl) Nnbhe carbamylmethyl)glycine carbamylmethyl)glycine l-carboxy-l-(2,2-diphenyl- Nmbc ethylamino)cyclopropane

Crosslinkers can be used, for example, to stabilise 3D conformations, using homo-bifunctional crosslinkers such as the bifunctional imido esters having (CH2)_n spacer groups with n= 1 to n=6, glutaraldehyde, N-hydroxysuccinimide esters and hetero-bifunctional reagents which usually contain an amino-reactive moiety such as N-hydroxysuccinimide and another group specific- reactive moiety such as maleimido or dithio moiety (SH) or carbodiimide (COOH). In addition, peptides can be conformationally constrained by, for example, incorporation of C_α and 1^ - methylamino acids, introduction of double bonds between C_a and C_p atoms of amino acids and the formation of cyclic peptides or analogues by introducing covalent bonds such as forming an amide bond between the N and C termini, between two side chains or between a side chain and the N or C terminus.

Such analogues also apply in respect of MCG4 and MCG7.

The present invention further contemplates chemical analogues of MCG 18 capable of acting as antagonists or agonists of MCG 18 or which can act as functional analogues of MCG 18. Chemical analogues may not necessarily be derived from MCG 18 but may share certain conformational similarities. Alternatively, chemical analogues may be specifically designed to mimic certain physiochemical properties of MCG 18. Chemical analogues may be chemically synthesised or may be detected following, for example, natural product screening.

The identification of MCG ^; 8 permits the generation of a range of therapeutic molecules capable of modulating expression of MCG 18 or modulating the activity of MCG 18. Modulators contemplated by the present invention includes agonists and antagonists of MCG 18 expression.

Antagonists of MCG 18 expression include antisense molecules, ribozymes and co-suppression molecules. Agonists include molecules which increase promoter ability or interfere with negative regulatory mechanisms. Agonists of MCG 18 include molecules which overcome any negative regulatory mechanism. Antagonists of MCG 18 include antibodies and inhibitor peptide fragments.

These types of modifications may be important to stabihse MCG 18 if administered to an individual or for use as a diagnostic reagent.

Other derivatives contemplated by the present invention include a range of glycosylation variants from a completely unglycosylated molecule to a modified glycosylated molecule. Altered glycosylation patterns may result from expression of recombinant molecules in different host cells.

Another embodiment ofthe present invention contemplates a method for modulating expression of MCG18 in a human, said method comprising contacting the mcgl8 gene encoding MCG18 with an effective amount of a modulator of mcgl 8 expression for a time and under conditions sufficient to up-regulate or down-regulate or otherwise modulate expression of meg 18. For example, a nucleic acid molecule encoding MCG 18 or a derivative thereof may be introduced into a cell to facilitate protection of that cell from becoming cancerous.

Another aspect ofthe present invention contemplates a method of modulating activity of MCG 18 in a human, said method comprising administering to said mammal a modulating effective amount of a molecule for a time and under conditions sufficient to increase or decrease MCG 18 activity. The molecule may be a proteinaceous molecule or a chemical entity and may also be a derivative of MCG 18 or a chemical analogue or truncation mutant of MCG 18.

The present invention is further described with reference to the following non-limiting Examples. EXAMPLE 1

A human gene (designated mcg4) was identified on chromosome 1 lql3 that on the basis of sequence homology is predicted to encode a putative transcription factor of 310 amino acids (Fig. 1). mcg4 is transcribed in several different cell lines (Fig. 7).

EXAMPLE 2

The expressed sequence tag (EST) database contains partial sequence data for the murine (Fig. 2) and nematode (Fig. 3) homologues of mcg4.

EXAMPLE 3

MCG4 contains a sequence of cysteine residues within the N-terminal region of the protein that resembles zinc-finger binding domains of a novel type, ie. (HC₃)₂ [Fig. 4].

EXAMPLE 4

Sensitive sequence homology searches reveal that related cysteine-containing motifs are present in another C. elegans protein (Fig. 5) as well as the GATA-binding transcription factor from S. pombe (Fig. 6).

EXAMPLE 5

mcg4 will have commercial value due to its likelihood of encoding a novel transcription factor that is highly conserved amongst organisms, thus suggesting an integral role in gene regulation. mcg4 may also be involved in some way in tissue-specific or temporal regulation of certain genes, thus making it a potential target for modulating expression of those downstream effectors. EXAMPLE 6

Nucleotide sequence data generated from cosmid clone cSRL-72c4 with the T7 primer (Promega, and Applied Biosystems Incorporated dye terminator sequencing kit) was aligned to the GenBank Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) database using the program BLASTN (Altschul et al 1990) and was found to match numerous human and mouse entries (Table 4 and Figure 2). These matching ESTs were further used to identify overlapping entries in the EST database (Table 5). The nucleotide sequences of these human ESTs were complied using Mac Vector 4.2J software (IBI-Kodak) to produce the cDNA sequence shown in Figure 1. EST entries AA074703 and AA134788 are closely related at the nucleotide level to mcg4 and it is, therefore, likely that mcg4 is a member of a newly discovered gene family (Figure 8).

The cDNA sequence of mcg4 was translated in all possible reading frames and compared to the GenBank non-redundant protein database using the program BLASTX (Altschul et al, 1990) at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (http//www.ncbi.nih.gov.nlm). As the protein appeared to be novel, a translation of the longest reading frame for the mcg4 cDNA was aligned to the EST database using the program TBLASTN, which performed a dynamic translation of the EST database in all 6 frames. The search results indicated that the nematode C. elegans had an MCG4-like protein (Figure 3), with the matching domains containing a spatial sequence of Cysteine and Histidine residues which resembled a zinc-finger structure (Figure 4). The program BLASTP was used, therefore, to conduct sensitive searches of the protein databases for similar zinc-finger motifs. A weak match to the putative zinc-finger domain was observed for another protein from C. elegans (Figure 5) and a poorer match for the GATA- binding transcription factor from S. pombe (Figure 6). The putative initiation codon of human mcg4 is not preceded by an in-frame stop codon and it is therefore possible that the cDNA described in Figure 1 is a truncated form. However, sequence alignment of human and mouse mcg4 ESTs showed a lower degree of nucleotide conservation prior to the assigned initiation codon, thus supporting the notion that the region represents the 5' UTR (Figure 9). To determine the expression pattern of mcg4, 1 μg of the total cellular RNA (RNeasy Mini Kit, Qiagen) from various human cell lines grown in culture were electrophoresed through 1.2% w/v MOPS/formaldehyde gels and blotted onto nylon membranes (Amersham) by capillary transfer using 20 x SSC (Sambrook et al, 1989). Filters were subsequently UV-fixed and hybridised overnight at 65°C to a radiolabelled (³²P-dCTP) cDNA probe (Church and Gilbert, 1984) for mcg4. After washes in OJ x SSC/0J% w/v SDS at 65°C for 1 hour, the filters were air-dried and exposed to X-ray film. This Northern analysis showed that mcg4 is expressed as a 1.6kb message in numerous tissues including breast, ovary, bladder, lung and keratinocytes (Figure 7).

EXAMPLE 7

A human gene (designated mcgT) was identified and isolated from chromosome 1 lql3 which encodes a protein that bears striking homology with guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) from a wide variety of organisms (Fig. 12).

EXAMPLE 8

The composite mcg7 cDNA sequence is at least 2.4kb in length and Figure 13(a) shows a predicted translation product of at least 609 amino acids beginning at methionine 120. An alternative start site due to alternate exon splicing (indicated in lower case) may yield a protein of 671 amino acids starting at methionine 58 (Fig. 13a).

EXAMPLE 9

An mcg7 homologue from C. elegans has been identified, the product of which is highly conserved with that of MCG7 (Fig. 14). There are several salient features of the protein which have been underlined in Fig. 14 - namely: a guanine nucleotide binding region, a diacylglycerol binding region, and "EF-hand"-calcium binding regions. In addition, there are several potential cAMP, protein kinase C, and casein kinase II phosphorylation sites, as well as a number of potential sites for glycosylation (not indicated).

EXAMPLE 10

A number of partial human and murine EST clones exist for mcgl. The GenBank database contains a cDNA (Ace. no. Y12336) encoding a full-length open reading frame (ORF) for human mcg7 as well as a partial murine mcg7 ORF (Y 12339). In addition, the complete genomic sequence of the human mcg7 gene is contained within GenBank entry AC000134.

EXAMPLE 11

The best characterised GEFs are members ofthe family of ras oncoproteins, which play a pivotal role in signal transduction and when mutated are responsible for tumour development. A variety of therapeutic regimes for cancer treatment have been designed to specifically interfere with the ras signalling pathways. There is potential, therefore that the product of mcg7 could also be a target for such clinical strategies.

EXAMPLE 12

The nucleotide sequence for mcg7 cDNA was extended 5' with genomic DNA sequence from Genbank accession number AC000134 (positions 1-321) and analysed for additional coding sequence 5' to the putative initiation codon (nt 681-683) (Fig. 16). An additional in-frame ATG occurs at position nt 495-497 when the alternatively splice exon (position nt 504-609) is present (also shown in Fig. 13(a)). This closely matches the Kozak consensus. When this exon is absent, then the ATG is not in-frame and other possible initiation codons are absent (resulting translation shown in lower case lettering) (also shown in Fig. 13(b)). Further evidence that the initiation codon at position nt 681-683 is the true initiation site is given in Figure 15.

Alignment of human and a partial murine mcg7 cDNA sequences is shown in Figure 15. The putative initiation codon is at position nt 360-362. Both murine ESTs appear to have an upstream in-frame stop codon at position nt 326-328, downstream of the differentially spliced exon and the sequence alignment thus suggests that this region represents the 5' UTR of mcg7.

Furthermore, similarity with the C. elegans homologue strongly suggest that the ATG codon at position nt 360-362 encodes the N-terminus of MCG7. EXAMPLE 13

Figure 17 shows data from experiments indicating that a truncated version of MCG7 when expressed as a GST fusion protein (construct B in Fig. 18) can function as a Ras-guanine nucleotide exchange factor. In brief, Ras (unprocessed and as a GST fusion protein) is loaded with ³H-GDP then incubated in the presence of excess cold GTP ± GST-MCG7. Full details of this assay can be found in Porfiri et al.

EXAMPLE 14

Nucleotide sequence data generated from cosmid clone cSRL-20hl2 with the T7 primer (Promega, and Applied Biosystems Incorporated dye terminator sequencing kit) were aligned to the GenBank Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) database using the program BLASTN (Altschul et al, 1990) and was found to match GenBank entries T78563 (clone 113434) TO9103 (clone HIBBP12) and AA035643 (clone 471819). EST clones 113434 and 471819 were obtained from Genome Systems Inc. and these DNAs were sequenced on both strands with gene-specific primers (Table 5) to generate the cDNA sequence of mcgl shown in Figures 13(a) and (b).

The cDNA sequence of mcgl was translated in all possible reading frames and compared to the GenBank non-redundant protein database using the program BLASTX (Altschul et al, 1990) and the coding region was assigned on the basis of showing homology to the C. elegans protein

F25B3.3 (Figure 14). The mcgl cDNA composite was suspected to contain a single nucleotide error that originated from clone 471819 and the correct nucleotide sequence was, therefore, sought by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the cDNA fragment from a human cDNA pool. Total RNA was extracted from a human lymphoblastoid cell line using an RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen). cDNA synthesis was conducted with the reverse transcriptase Superscript II RNaseH- (GIBCO, BRL) and random hexamers using the procedure recommended by the manufacturer (GIBCO, BRL). One fortieth of the cDNA mix was subjected to 35 cycles of PCR using the following cycling conditions: 94°C for 30 seconds, 58°C for 30 seconds and 72°C for 90 seconds. The 50μl reaction mix consisted of lx reaction buffer

(Dade Scientific), 2mM dNTP mix, 20pmol of primers (see Table 6) MCG7UF (within the variably spliced exon of Figure 13(b), between nucleotide positions 184-201) and SGCADRV2 (between nucleotide positions 866-846 of Figure 13(a)) and 10 units of Dynazyme (Dade Scientific). The resulting PCR product was cloned into the pGEM-T vector (Promega) using standard methodology and sequenced using gene-specific primers. The correct nucleotide sequence of mcgl (as shown in Figure 13(a)) matches that of the recently release GenBank entry Y12336. A partial mouse mcgl cDNA sequence can also be found in GenBank entry Y12339.

EXAMPLE 15

The coding sequence of mcgl was cloned into vectors for expression in both bacterial and mammalian cells. In addition to the full-length constructs, the deletion constructs shown in Figure 18 were designed to retain the guanine nucleotide exchange (GEF) domain. For prokaryotic expression, the mcgl coding region was inserted downstream of and in-frame with the Sj26 cassette of the pGEX (Pharmacia) series of vectors (Smith and Johnson, 1988) using standard cloning techniques (Sambrook et al, 1989). For mammahan expression, the mcgl coding sequence was first myc-tagged at the N-terminus and then ligated into the expression vector pc Exv-n using standard cloning techniques. Ligation junctions of the constructs were sequences as the cloning strategies inadvertently changed or introduced additional amino acids as shown below.

Construct (A): EST clone 113434 was digested with Apal (Figure 13(a), nucleotide positions 1022 to >2416 (within the vector)), blunt-ended with T4 DNA polymerase according to the specifications ofthe manufacturer (New England Biolab) and ligated into the Smαl site of pGEX- 3X.

Sequence of the pGEX and mcgl (underlined) junction: pGEX-3X mcg7 (1022)

Sj26 ... GGG ATC CCC CTG GTC [SEQ ID NO: 19] additional amino acids Gly He Pro

Construct (B): EST clone 113434 was digested with EcoRI (Figure 13(a), nucleotide positions <695 (within the vector) to 1711) and ligated into the EcoRI site of pGΕX-1.

Sequence of the pGEX and mcgl (underlined) junction: pGEX-1 mcgl (695) Sj26 ... GAA TTC GGC ACG AGC CGA CGG [SEQ ID NO:20] additional amino acids Glu Phe Gly Thr Ser

Construct (C): full-length mcgl: The pGEM-T clone containing the 5' end of the mcgl coding region was digested with Apal (subsequently blunt-ended with T4 DNA polymerase) and BstXl to liberate the fragment between nucleotide positions 336 and 830 of Figure 13(a). Clone 1 13434 was digested with -SstXI and Hindlll (vector derived) to liberate a fragment between nucleotide positions 830 > and 2416 (vector derived) of Figure 13(a). A pGEM-1 lzf vector (Promega) containing the m c-tag was digested with Apal (subsequently blunt-ended with T4 DNA polymerase) and Hindlll, and ligated with the 2 inserts described above.

Sequence of the myc-tag/mcg 7 junction [SEQ ED NOs:21/22]:

myc-tag vector BamHI mcgl 5 ' UTR ( 337 ) start

ATGGAGCAGAAGCTGATCTCCGAGGAGGACCTG CCCGGGGCAGCTggatccG CAGCCCACCCCGCGCCGGCGGCCATG M E Q K L I S E E D L P G A A G S A A H P A P A A M ^■ additional amino acids

The myc-tagged full-length mcgl insert in pGEM-1 lzf was then excised with Sαcl and Hindlll (both vector derived) and directionally cloned into the mammalian expression vector pEXV (Beranger et αl, 1994).

Construct (D): Construct (C) in pGEM-1 lzf was sequentially digested with Hindm (this site was subsequently blunt-ended with T4 DNA polymerase) then -BαmHI, and ligated into pGEX- 2T digested with BαmHI and Smαl. Digestion with BαmHI, and ligated into pGEX-2T digested with BαmHI and Smαl. Digestion with -BαmHI removed the myc-tag of Construct (C).

Sequence of the pGEX and mcg7 [SEQ ID NO:23/24] (underlined) junction: pGEX-2 BamΑl mcg7 (337)

SJ26 ... gga tec GCA GCC C.AC CC.C GCG CCG GCG GCC ATG Gly Ser Ala Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met additional amino acids

EXAMPLE 16

Overnight bacterial cultures containing the pGEX plasmid were used to inoculate 500ml of Luria Broth media containing 50μg/ml ampicillin. The cultures were grown to an OD of -0.8 and then induced with ImM of IPTG for up to 3 hours at 37°C. The bacteria were pelleted and resuspended in 15 ml of STE buffer (lOmM Tris pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl and ImM EDTA) with 1 mg/ml lysozyme. The mixture was left on ice for more than 1 hour and subsequent steps were performed at 4°C. Protease inhibitors aprotinin, pepstatin and leupeptin were added at final concentrations of 25μg/ml, prior to the addition of Triton-X-100 (2% v/v final) and n-lauroyl sarcosine (1.5% w/v final). The lysate was sonicated for ~1 minute and pelleted at 14,000 x g for 15 minutes. 100 μl of 50% w/v glutathione-sephadex bead slurry (in PBS) was added per ml of supernatant. Following a 30 minute incubation at 4°C, the beads were washed three times with NETN (20mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, lOOmM NaCl, ImM EDTA, 0.5% NP40), once with NETN-HS (equivalent to NETN but with IM NaCl), and once in NETN. The bound protein was directly analysed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) as described below or the bound protein was eluted from the beads with the following elution buffer (50mM Tris pH 8.0, 150mM NaCl, 5mM MgCl₂, ImM DTT, lOmM reduced glutathione) for use in GDP release assays.

EXAMPLE 17

Twenty microlitres of GST-sepharose-bound MCG7 were added to an equal volume of 2 x sample loading dye (lOOmM Tris pH6.8, 2% v/v mercaptoethanol, 4% w/v SDS, 0.2% w/v bromophenol blue, 20% v/v glycerol), boiled for 5 min and loaded onto a 7.5% w/v SDS-PAGE gel (Sambrook et αl, 1989). The Coomassie brilliant blue stained gel (Sambrook et αl, 1989) typically displayed a protein doublet, running between 87-95 kDa consisting of the MCG7-GST fusion and a slightly smaller, co-purified contaminating E. coli protein of ~105kDa. The calculated molecular weight of full-length MCG7 is 77.5 kDa (Construct (D)) and the GST component has a molecular weight of 26kDa, hence, the recombinant protein runs slightly smaller than predicted. A Western blot of the same gel probed with anti-GST antibody yields an MCG7-specific band at the same position as that of the stained gel.

EXAMPLE 18

Assumptions: (a) GST-Ras molecular weight = 50 kD; (b) Concentration of GST-Ras solution = lmg/ml = 20μM; (c) [³H]-GDP is lmCi/ml and 13.3Ci mmol, therefore [ H]-GDP concentration = 75 μM and lpmol [³H]-GDP= 15,466 cpm; (d) Elution buffer = Buffer E = 20 mM Tris-Cl, pH7.5; 50mM NaCl; 5mM MgCl₂; ImM DTT (added just before use). Buffer E + BSA= Buffer E+ lmg/ml BSA (added just before use).

Mix together, in the following order and mix well after each addition: lOμl (=10μg) GST-Ras (@ lmg/ml in Buffer E), 463μl Buffer E + BSA, 7μl [³H]-GDP, 10ml 490 μM EDTA. Incubate @ RT for 10 min. Add lOμl 0.5 M MgCl₂ and mix well. Incubate @ RT for 10 min. Place on ice. During the first incubation the excess EDTA concentration is 5mM, during the second incubation the excess Mg concentration is 5mM. The [³H]-GDP concentration is lμM and the final concentration of GST-Ras is 400nM. Thus 20ml of the final mix will contain 8pmol of GST-Ras protein. Specific activity of GDP is 15,446 cpm/pmol x (1/1.4) = 11,047 cpm/pmol.

EXAMPLE 19

Exchange Ras with labelled GDP as above. Add unlabelled GTP (stock = lOOmM, pH7) to 1 mM. Adjust Mg concentration by adding 5μl 0.5 EDTA to labelled Ras, 5μl 0.5M EDTA to 500μl MCG7, and 5μl 0.5M EDTA to 500μl Buffer E + BSA. On ice set up microfuge tubes with 40μl Ras-GDP (in triplicate) with 40μl MCG7 or Buffer E + BSA (control). Transfer tubes to heat block @ 25°C and incubate for 10, 20 or 30 min. Stop exchange reactions with 1ml of ice cold buffer E and place on ice. Pre-soak nitrocellulose filters, pore size 45μm, in Buffer E. Assemble the vacuum manifold apparatus (Millipore) with wet filters and plug the wells with rubber bunds. Switch on the vacuum pump. Remove the first plug, aliquot the sample and once it has been sucked through, wash the filter with 10ml of ice cold Buffer E. Remove next plug etc and continue round the manifold. Take manifold apart. Pin the filters to a pin board reserved for [³H]. Air dry. Take up in 4ml scintillation fluid and count. These studies have been carried out with a truncated MCG7-GST fusion protein (amino acids 341 of Figure 13a to stop encoded within construct B).

EXAMPLE 20

A human gene was identified from chromosome 1 lql3 that encodes a new member of the DnaJ family of proteins (designated MCG 18). This gene (mcgl 8) is expressed as an ~1.4kb mRNA (Fig. 28) and is predicted to encode a 241 amino acid product (Fig. 19).

EXAMPLE 21

MCG 18 has partial homology to E. coli dnaJ and other human DnaJ family members in that it contains the J domain (Fig. 20).

EXAMPLE 22

MCG18 has greatest homology to functionally undefined proteins from C. elegans (Fig. 21) and S. pombe (Fig. 22) that also feature the J domain but maintain sequence similarity through the central and C-terminal regions of the proteins.

EXAMPLE 23

The J domain is proposed to mediate interaction with heat shock protein (Hsp70) 70 and consist of some 70 amino acids, frequently located at the N-terminus of the protein. One of these proteins, tumorous imaginal discs (Tid58) from Drosophila virilis (Fig. 23) functions as a tumour suppressor.

EXAMPLE 24

A comparison of homology between MCG 18 and human DnaJ proteins HDJ-2/H5DJ, HDJ- 1/HSP40 and HSJ1 is shown in Fig. 24.

EXAMPLE 25

During the sequence characterisation of the VRF/VEGFB promoter region on cosmid CLGW4 [Grimmond et al, 1996], which maps to chromosome 1 lql3 the inventors identified a sequence that exactly matched numerous human and mouse expressed sequence tags (ESTs) in the EST database from a gene which we designated meg 18. EST clones for human (GenBank accession number T69741, clone 108172; accession number H40901, clone 177008) and mouse mcgl8 (accession number W34884, clone 350966; accession number W64183, clone 385535) were obtained from Genome Systems Inc. and sequenced with the gene-specific primers shown in Table 7. The EST clones listed in Table 8 were also utilised in generating the full-length coding sequence for human (Figure 19) and mouse (Figure 25) mcgl8. The EST database also contained mcgl 8 cDNA entries that were alternately (or partially) spliced, and in order to understand their ability to encode new polypeptides, the gene structure of mcgl 8 was determined by sequencing human and mouse genomic templates with gene-specific primers.

Genomic fragments containing the human [Grimmond et al, 1996] and murine genes [Townson et al, 1996] have been previously reported. Cosmid CLGW4 contains the entire human gene and λ 121 contains the entire mouse gene, as determined by direct sequencing of the templates with the oligonucleotides listed in Table 7. Plasmids containing sub-fragments of λ 121 and cosmid CLGW4 were prepared using plasmid purification kits (Qiagen) and sequenced as described previously [Grimmond et al, 1996; Townson et al, 1996] using primers designed against cDNA and genomic sequences. The BLAST suite of programs [Altschul et al, 1990] was used to compare the sequence data against the nucleotide and protein databases at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (http//www.ncbi.nih.gov.nlm). The sequence data were compiled using Mac Vector 4.2J software (IBI-Kodak). ClustalW sequence ahgnments [Thompson et al, 1994] were conducted using the Australian National Genome Information Service computer faculty at the University of Sydney, Australia.

5 The cDNA sequence of human mcgl 8 (Figure 19) was translated in all possible reading frames and compared to the GenBank non-redundant protein database using the program BLASTX [Altschul et al, 1990] and the coding region was identified on the basis of showing homology to the DnaJ family of proteins (Figure 20). The DnaJ domain is encoded within the longest open reading frame and the assigned initiation codon is preceded by an in-frame stop codon (Figure

10 27). Similar database search results were obtained for the mouse mcgl 8 cDNA, and the alignment of human and mouse protein sequences is shown in Figure 26. MCG 18 has greatest homology to gene products from C. elegans (Figure 21) and S. pombe (Figure 22). Although it shares a similar J-domain, MCG 18 does not contain other domains described for the tumour suppressor gene from D. virilis (Figure 23), nor is it a homologue of other reported human J-

15 domain-containing proteins (Figure 24).

To determine the expression pattern of mcgl 8, 15μg of total cellular RNA (RNeasy Mini Kit, Qiagen) from various human cell lines grown in culture were electrophoresed through 1.2% MOPS/formaldehyde gels and blotted onto nylon membranes (Amersham) by capillary transfer 20 using 20 x SSC (Sambrook et al, 1986). Filters were subsequently UV-fixed and hybridised overnight at 65°C to a radiolabelled (³²P-dCTP) cDNA probe (Church and Gilbert, 1984) for mcgl 8. After washes in 0.1 x SSC/0.1% w/v SDS for 65°C for 1 hour, the filters were air-dried and exposed to X-ray film. This Northern analysis showed that mcgl 8 is expressed as a 1.4kb message in numerous tissues including breast, ovary, bladder, lung and keratinocytes (Figure 28). O 98/53061

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TABLE 4

ESTs matching mcg4

accession number seq. run organism score value N gb|AA399110|AA399110 zt89e06.sl Soares testis NHT Homo sa... 1136 Oe-168 2 gb|N39612|N39612 yy51g06.sl Homo sapiens cDNA clone 2... 1521 3e-168 4 gb|AA514406|AA514406 nf57d01.sl NCI_CGAP_Co3 Homo sapiens... 931 5e-166 3 gb|AA544946|AA544946 vk38e02.rl Soares mouse mammary glan... 1207 4e-164 2 gb|AA450076|AA450076 zx42a04.sl Soares total fetus Nb2HF8... 691 3e-160 4 gb|AA53573l|AA535731 nf88f07.sl NCI_CGAP_Co3 Homo sapiens... 796 5e-158 4 gb|W79710|W79710 zd86£01.rl Soares fetal heart NbHH19... 1644 l.le-157 4 gb|AA503531|AA503531 ne47e08.sl NCI_CGAP_Co3 Homo sapiens... 736 4.0e-156 4 gb|AA450132|AA450132 zx42a04.rl Soares total fetus Nb2HF8... 1955 3.9e-155 1 gb|AA398068|AA398068 zt89f06.rl Soares testis NHT Homo sa... 1315 5.4e-148 2 gb|W604O5|W60405 zd29h08.rl Soares fetal heart NbHH19... 1022 1.8e-139 4 gb|W81382|W81382 zd86f01.sl Soares fetal heart NbHH19... 605 3.5e-125 5 gb|AA047617|AA047617 zfl3f07.sl Soares fetal heart bHH19... 922 4.6e-125 2 gb|AA282175|AA282175 zt02d03.sl NCI_CGAP_GCB1 Homo sapien... 1577 2.0e-123 1 gb|AA242159|AA242159 my30d04.rl Barstead mouse pooled org... 866 7.7e-117 2 gb|AA06868θ|AA068680 mm61a05.rl Stratagene mouse embryoni ... 1280 1.6β-98 1 gb|W46766|W46766 zc36b07.sl Soares senescent fibrobla... 506 9.6e-92 3 gb|N93704|N93704 zb51c04.sl Soares fetal lung NbHL19W... 584 9.0e-91 4 gb|AA15521θ|AAl55210 mr98e01.rl Stratagene mouse embryoni... 840 7.6e-87 2 gb|AA366022 |AA366022 EST76915 Pineal gland II Homo sapien... 1077 2.4e-81 1 gb|AA037691 |AA037691 zk34hl2.sl Soares pregnant uterus Nb... 949 2.1e-80 2 gb|W35374|W35374 zc07h03.sl Soares parathyroid tumor ... 1016 3.1e-76 1 dbj|C00696|C00696 HUMGS0008251, Human Gene Signature, ... 1009 1.2e-75 1 gb|T98249|T98249 ye59a07.sl Homo sapiens cDNA clone 1... 998 6.7e-75 1 gb|W21S88|W21588 zb51c04.rl Soares fetal lung NbH,19W... 484 l.le-69 4 gb|H3217l|H32171 EST107015 Rattus sp. cDNA 5' end. 828 l.le-60 1 gb|AA108092 |AA108092 πm89e06.rl Stratagene mouse embryoni... 782 1.3e-60 2 gb|AA017857 |AA017857 mh44dl0.rl Soares mouse placenta 4Nb... 665 2.5e-60 2 gb|AA037690 |AA037690 zk34hl2.rl Soares pregnant uterus Nb... 540 9.4e-53 2 gb|AA531006 |AA531006 nj07bll.sl NCI_CGAP_Pr22 Homo sapien... 535 5.4e-48 2 gb|N46760|N46760 yy51g0G.rl Homo sapiens cDNA clone 2... 665 9.5e-47 1 gb|W23584|W23584 zc71d03.sl Soares fetal heart NbHH19... 457 1.8e-44 2 gb|W42214| 42214 mc69h09.rl Soares mouse embryo NbMEl ... 460 1.3e-38 3 gb|AA244877 |AA244877 mx25a04.rl Soares mouse NM Mus muse... 429 2.9e-25 1 gb|W32939|W32939 zc07h03.rl Soares parathyroid tumor ... 320 4.8e-18 1

O 98/53061

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TABLE 5 ESTs matching AA074703 (mcg4-related cDNA)

Database: Non-redundant Database of GenBank EST Division 1,222,625 sequences; 449,352,662 total letters.

Smallest

Sum

High Probability

Sequences producing High-scoring Segment Pairs: Score P(N) N accession number seq. run organism score E value N gb|AA074703|AA074703 zm76g07.rl Stratagene neuroepitheli .. . 2071 4.0e-167 1 gb|AA068680|AA068680 mm61a05.rl Stratagene mouse embryon.. . 1270 4.4e-145 4 gb|AA134788|AA134788 zm81g02.rl Stratagene neuroepitheli.. 946 1.3e-144 5 gb|AA399110|AA399110 zt89e06.sl Soares testis NHT Homo s.. 520 8.7e-119 6 gb|N39612 |N39612 yy51g06.sl Homo sapiens cDNA clone .. 582 9.6e-110 7 gb|AA282175|AA282175 zt02d03.sl NCI_CGAP_GCBl Homo sapie.. 771 9.4e-80 3 gb|W81382 |W81382 zd86f01.sl Soares fetal heart NbHHl.. 329 1.6e-75 6 gb|AA544946|AA54494ό vk38e02.rl Soares mouse majronary gla.. 644 9.6e-63 2 gb|W3537 |W35374 zc07h03.sl Soares parathyroid tumor.. 294 4.5e-42 4 gb|W57106|W57106 md57cl2.rl Soares mouse embryo NbME.. 394 1.9e-30 2 gb|AA244877|AA244877 mx25a04.rl Soares mouse NML Mus mus.. 162 2.1e-27 4 gb|AAO17857|AA017857 mh44dl0.rl Soares mouse placenta 4N.. 230 3.7e-23 3 gb|AA5310O6|AA531006 nj07bll.sl NCI_CGAP_Pr22 Homo sapie.. 139 2.3S-19 3 gb|H32171|H32171 EST107015 Rattus sp. cDNA 5' end. 207 2.6e-10 2 gb|W79710|W79710 zd86f01.rl Soares fetal heart NbHHl.. 157 0.0073 1 TABLE 6 meg 7-specifϊc oligonucleotides

name sequence (5' to 3') SEQ ID NOs.

M1044R GGA CAA AGT GTG TGA TGA ACC SEQ ID NO:25

MCG7-GEF-REV2 CTC ATC CTC CGT CTG ATA CTG SEQ ID NO:26

M7R GTA GAT GTG GAT CAG CTT GG SEQ ID NO:27

MCG7 CA FOR AGG TGG AGA ATG GTC AAGG SEQ ID NO:28 MCG7-GEF-REV GTC ATA GTC TGT CTC CTA CT SEQ ID NO:29

MCG7 GEF FOR ACA TAG ACA GCG TGC CTA CC SEQ ID NO:30

MCG7-PKC-REV TAC AAC CTT AGG GAC ACC AG SEQ ID NO:31

MCG7-PKC-FOR TGC TGA GCC TGC TCA CGG TG SEQ ID NO:32

T09103F CAA GTG AAC AGC ACG TCC SEQ ID NO:33 M7F GAC TAT CTC AAG GAC CAG CTG SEQ ID NO:34

MCG7UF GGT TCG GTC CGA GCC CGG SEQ ID NO:35

SGCADRV2 GGA GCG ATA CTC CAA GTA GGT SEQ ID NO:36

TABLE 7 mcgiS-SPECIFIC OLIGONUCLEOTIDES

name sequence 5' to 3' HVESTF AGC GGG CCA GGC CCC TTC [SEQ ID NO:37] HV195F CAT CCT GGT CCA ATG CGC TC [SEQ ID NO: 38] HV387F2 GCA CTG AGG AAG TTA AAC GAG C [SEQ ID NO:39] HV408R GCT CGT TTA ACT TCC TCA GTG C [SEQ ID NO:40] EXON 1 REV GCT CAG CTC CAC AAA GCG GCT [SEQ ID NO:41] HVEST426F ACC AGC TCC GCT CAG GTA G [SEQ ID NO:42] HVEST623R TCC AGG AGC TGT GTG TTT GG [SEQ ID NO:43] SGVESTF3 CCA GTT TCA CAG CGT GAG G [SEQ ID NO:44] HVEST631R CAG CAT GAG GAG GAG GCA G [SEQ ID NO:45]

TABLE 8 CLONE SEQUENCES USED TO GENERATE HUMAN AND MOUSE mcgl8 cDNA SEQUENCE COMPOSITES

£51 clone numr >er organism GenBank accession numb$τ lg2815 human D45683

0O1-T2-18 human F17225

273748 human N37043

177008 human H40901 and H40939

25801 1 human N30776

276887 • human N44004

108172 human T69741

307529 human W21083 and W32579

342027 human W60283

354288 mouse W44038

350966 mouse W348844

426261 mouse AA002868

368185 mouse W5391 1

385535 mouse W64183

404472 mouse W82959

406437 mouse W83482

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Altschul, S.F., Gish, W., Miller, W., Myers, E.W., and Lipman, DJ. (1990) J. Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410.

2. Church, G., and Gilbert, W. (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 18: 1991-1995.

3. Porfiri et al. J. Biol. Chem. 269: 22672-22677 (1994).

4. Sambrook, J., Frtisch, E.F., and Maniatis, T. (1989) Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbour, NY, USA.

5. Smith, D.B., and Johnson, K.S. (1988) Gene 67: 31-40.

6. Thompson, J.D., Higgins, D.G., and Gibson, TJ. (1994) Nucleic Acids Res. 22: 4673-4680.

7. Beranger, F., Paterson, H., Powers, S., de Gunzburg, J. and Hancock, J.F. (1994) Molecular and Cellular Biology 14: 744-758.

8. Grimmond, S., Lagercrantz, J., Drinkwater, C, Silins, G., Townson, S., Pollock, P., Gotiey, D., Carson, E., Rakar, S., Nordenskjold, M., Ward, L., Hayward, N., and Weber, G (1996) Genome Res. 6: 124-131.

9. Townson, S., Lagercrantz, J., Grimmond, S., Silins, G., Nordenskjold, Weber, G., and Hayward, N. (1996) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 220: 922-928. SEQUENCE LISTING

(1) GENERAL INFORMATION:

(i) APPLICANT: (OTHER THAN US): The Council of The Queensland Institute of

Medical Research (US ONLY): HAYWARD Nicholas, SILINS Ginters, GRIMMOND Sean, GARTSIDE Michael and HANCOCK, John

(ii) TITLE OF INVENTIONS NOVEL GENE AND USES THEREFOR

(iii) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 45

(iv) CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS:

(A) ADDRESSEE: DA VIES COLLISON CAVE

(B) STREET: 1 LITTLE COLLINS STREET

(C) CITY: MELBOURNE

(D) STATE: VICTORIA

(E) COUNTRY: AUSTRALIA

(F) ZIP: 3000

(v) COMPUTER READABLE FORM:

(A) MEDIUM TYPE: Floppy disk

(B) COMPUTER: IBM PC compatible

(C) OPERATING SYSTEM: PC-DOS/MS-DOS

(D) SOFTWARE: Patentln Release #1.0, Version #1.25

(vi) CURRENT APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PCT INTERNATIONAL

(B) FILING DATE: 22-MAY-1998

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PO6973

(B) FILING DATE: 23-MAY-1997

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PO6974

(B) FILING DATE: 23-MAY-1997

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PO6972

(B) FILING DATE: 23-MAY-1997 (C) CLASSIFICATION:

(vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PP1459

(B) FILING DATE: 22-JAN-1998

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PP1460

(B) FILING DATE: 22-JAN-1998

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA:

(A) APPLICATION NUMBER: PP1458

(B) FILING DATE: 22-JAN-1998

(C) CLASSIFICATION:

(viii) ATTORNEY/AGENT INFORMATION: (A) NAME: HUGHES, DR E JOHN L (C) REFERENCE/DOCKET NUMBER: EJH/AF

(ix) TELECOMMUNICATION INFORMATION:

(A) TELEPHONE: +61 3 9254 2777

(B) TELEFAX: +61 3 9254 2770

(C) TELEX: AA 31787

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO:l:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 8 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 1 :

Cys Xaa Xaa Cys Xaa Gly Xaa Gly

5

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 2 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 1242 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 30..959

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 2 :

TCAGTAAACA CAGAGACTGG GGATCGATC ATG GGG CTT TGT AAG TGC CCC AAG 53

Met Gly Leu Cys Lys Cys Pro Lys 1 5

AGA AAG GTG ACC AAC CTG TTC TGC TTC GAA CAT CGG GTC AAC GTC TGC 101 Arg Lys Val Thr Asn Leu Phe Cys Phe Glu His Arg Val Asn Val Cys 10 15 20

GAG CAC TGC CTG GTA GCC AAT CAC GCC AAG TGC ATC GTC CAG TCC TAC 149 Glu His Cys Leu Val Ala Asn His Ala Lys Cys lie Val Gin Ser Tyr 25 30 35 40

CTG CAA TGG CTC CAA GAT AGC GAC TAC AAC CCC AAT TGC CGC CTG TGC 197 Leu Gin Trp Leu Gin Asp Ser Asp Tyr Asn Pro Asn Cys Arg Leu Cys 45 50 55

AAC ATA CCC CTG GCC AGC CGA GAG ACG ACC CGC CTT GTC TGC TAT GAT 245 Asn lie Pro Leu Ala Ser Arg Glu Thr Thr Arg Leu Val Cys Tyr Asp 60 65 70

CTC TTT CAC TGG GCC TGC CTC AAT GAA CGT GCT GCC CAG CTA CCC CGA 293 Leu Phe His Trp Ala Cys Leu Asn Glu Arg Ala Ala Gin Leu Pro Arg 75 80 85

AAC ACG GCA CCT GCC GGC TAT CAG TGC CCC AGC TGC AAT GGC CCC ATC 341 Asn Thr Ala Pro Ala Gly Tyr Gin Cys Pro Ser Cys Asn Gly Pro lie 90 95 100

TTC CCC CCA ACC AAC CTG GCT GGC CCC GTG GCC TCC GCA CTG AGA GAG 389 Phe Pro Pro Thr Asn Leu Ala Gly Pro Val Ala Ser Ala Leu Arg Glu 105 110 115 120 AAG CTG GCC ACA GTC AAC TGG GCC CGG GCA GGA CTG GGC CTC CCT CTG 437 Lys Leu Ala Thr Val Asn Trp Ala Arg Ala Gly Leu Gly Leu Pro Leu 125 130 135

ATC GAT GAG GTG GTG AGC CCA GAG CCC GAG CCC CTC AAC ACG TCT GAC 485 lie Asp Glu Val Val Ser Pro Glu Pro Glu Pro Leu Asn Thr Ser Asp 140 145 150

TTC TCT GAC TGG TCT AGT TTT AAT GCC AGC AGT ACC CCT GGA CCA GAG 533 Phe Ser Asp Trp Ser Ser Phe Asn Ala Ser Ser Thr Pro Gly Pro Glu 155 160 165

GAG GTA GAC AGC GCC TCT GCT GCC CCA GCC TTC TAC AGC CGA GCC CCC 581 Glu Val Asp Ser Ala Ser Ala Ala Pro Ala Phe Tyr Ser Arg Ala Pro 170 175 180

CGG CCC CCA GCT TCC CCA GGC CGG CCC GAG CAG CAC ACA GTG ATC CAC 629 Arg Pro Pro Ala Ser Pro Gly Arg Pro Glu Gin His Thr Val lie His 185 190 195 200

ATG GGC AAT CCT GAG CCC TTG ACT CAC GCC CCT AGG AAG GTG TAT GAT 677 Met Gly Asn Pro Glu Pro Leu Thr His Ala Pro Arg Lys Val Tyr Asp 205 210 215

ACG CGG GAT GAT GAC CGG ACA CCA GGC CTC CAT GGA GAC TGT GAC GAT 725 Thr Arg Asp Asp Asp Arg Thr Pro Gly Leu His Gly Asp Cys Asp Asp 220 225 230

GAC AAG TAC CGA CGT CGG CCG GCC TTG GGT TGG CTG GCC CGG CTG CTA 773 Asp Lys Tyr Arg Arg Arg Pro Ala Leu Gly Trp Leu Ala Arg Leu Leu 235 240 245

AGG AGC CGG GCT GGG TCT CGG AAG CGG CCG CTG ACC CTG CTC CAG CGG 821 Arg Ser Arg Ala Gly Ser Arg Lys Arg Pro Leu Thr Leu Leu Gin Arg 250 255 260

GCG GGG CTG CTG CTA CTC TTG GGA CTG CTG GGC TTC CTG GCC CTC CTT 869 Ala Gly Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Gly Leu Leu Gly Phe Leu Ala Leu Leu 265 270 275 280

GCC CTC ATG TCT CGC CTA GGC CGG GCC GCA GCT GAC AGC GAT CCC AAC 917 Ala Leu Met Ser Arg Leu Gly Arg Ala Ala Ala Asp Ser Asp Pro Asn 285 290 295

CTG GAC CCA CTC ATG AAC CCT CAC ATC CGC GTG GGC CCC TCC TGA 962

Leu Asp Pro Leu Met Asn Pro His lie Arg Val Gly Pro Ser * 300 305 310

GCCCCCTTGC TTGTGGCTAG GCCAGCCTAG GATGTGGGTT CTGTGGAGGA GAGGCGGGGT 1022

AATGGGGAGG CTGAGGGCAC CTCTTCACTG CCCCTCTCCC TCAAGCCTAA GACACTAAGA 1082

CCCCAGACCC AAAGCCAAGT CCACCAGAGT GGCTCGCAGG CCAGGCCTGG AGTCCCCGTG 1142

GGTCAAGCAT TTGTCTTGAC TTGCTTTCTC CCGGGTCTCC AGCCTCCGAC CCCTCGCCCC 1202

ATGAAGGAGC TGGCAGGTGG AAATAAACAA CAACTTTATT 1242

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 3 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 310 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 3 :

Met Gly Leu Cys Lys Cys Pro Lys Arg Lys Val Thr Asn Leu Phe Cys 1 5 10 15

Phe Glu His Arg Val Asn Val Cys Glu His Cys Leu Val Ala Asn His 20 25 30

Ala Lys Cys lie Val Gin Ser Tyr Leu Gin Trp Leu Gin Asp Ser Asp 35 40 45

Tyr Asn Pro Asn Cys Arg Leu Cys Asn lie Pro Leu Ala Ser Arg Glu 50 55 60

Thr Thr Arg Leu Val Cys Tyr Asp Leu Phe His Trp Ala Cys Leu Asn 65 70 75 80

Glu Arg Ala Ala Gin Leu Pro Arg Asn Thr Ala Pro Ala Gly Tyr Gin 85 90 95

Cys Pro Ser Cys Asn Gly Pro lie Phe Pro Pro Thr Asn Leu Ala Gly 100 105 110

Pro Val Ala Ser Ala Leu Arg Glu Lys Leu Ala Thr Val Asn Trp Ala 115 120 125

Arg Ala Gly Leu Gly Leu Pro Leu lie Asp Glu Val Val Ser Pro Glu 130 135 140

Pro Glu Pro Leu Asn Thr Ser Asp Phe Ser Asp Trp Ser Ser Phe Asn 145 150 155 160

Ala Ser Ser Thr Pro Gly Pro Glu Glu Val Asp Ser Ala Ser Ala Ala 165 170 175

Pro Ala Phe Tyr Ser Arg Ala Pro Arg Pro Pro Ala Ser Pro Gly Arg 180 185 190

Pro Glu Gin His Thr Val lie His Met Gly Asn Pro Glu Pro Leu Thr 195 200 205

His Ala Pro Arg Lys Val Tyr Asp Thr Arg Asp Asp Asp Arg Thr Pro 210 215 220

Gly Leu His Gly Asp Cys Asp Asp Asp Lys Tyr Arg Arg Arg Pro Ala 225 230 235 240

Leu Gly Trp Leu Ala Arg Leu Leu Arg Ser Arg Ala Gly Ser Arg Lys 245 250 255

Arg Pro Leu Thr Leu Leu Gin Arg Ala Gly Leu Leu Leu Leu Leu Gly 260 265 270

Leu Leu Gly Phe Leu Ala Leu Leu Ala Leu Met Ser Arg Leu Gly Arg 275 280 285

Ala Ala Ala Asp Ser Asp Pro Asn Leu Asp Pro Leu Met Asn Pro His 290 295 300 lie Arg Val Gly Pro Ser 305 310

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 4 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 2415 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 3..2188

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 4 :

CG ATT TCA TTC CTC GCT CCC CAC AGG TCC CTC TCC CCA AAA TAT TCC 47 lie Ser Phe Leu Ala Pro His Arg Ser Leu Ser Pro Lys Tyr Ser 1 5 10 15

CAT CTT GTC CTA GCC CAT CCC CCA GAC TAT CTC AAG GAC CAG CTG TCC 95 His Leu Val Leu Ala His Pro Pro Asp Tyr Leu Lys Asp Gin Leu Ser 20 25 30

CCA CGC CCC CGA CCT CCA CTA GGC CTG TGC CAC CCG CTG CCT GCA GGA 143 Pro Arg Pro Arg Pro Pro Leu Gly Leu Cys His Pro Leu Pro Ala Gly 35 40 45

AGA CGC CCG GTC CCG GGC CGG GTT AGC CCC ATG GGA ACG CAG CGC CTG 191 Arg Arg Pro Val Pro Gly Arg Val Ser Pro Met Gly Thr Gin Arg Leu 50 55 60

TGT GGC CGC GGG ACT CAA GGC TGG CCT GGC TCA AGT GAA CAG CAC GTC 239 Cys Gly Arg Gly Thr Gin Gly Trp Pro Gly Ser Ser Glu Gin His Val 65 70 75

CAG GAG GCG ACC TCG TCC GCG GGT TTG CAT TCT GGG GTG GAC GAG CTG 287 Gin Glu Ala Thr Ser Ser Ala Gly Leu His Ser Gly Val Asp Glu Leu 80 85 90 95

GGG GTT CGG TCC GAG CCC GGT GGG AGG CTC CCG GAG CGC AGC CTG GGC 335 Gly Val Arg Ser Glu Pro Gly Gly Arg Leu Pro Glu Arg Ser Leu Gly 100 105 110

CCA GCC CAC CCC GCG CCG GCG GCC ATG GCA GGC ACC CTG GAC CTG GAC 383 Pro Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met Ala Gly Thr Leu Asp Leu Asp 115 120 125

AAG GGC TGC ACG GTG GAG GAG CTG CTC CGC GGG TGC ATC GAA GCC TTC 431 Lys Gly Cys Thr Val Glu Glu Leu Leu Arg Gly Cys lie Glu Ala Phe 130 135 140

GAT GAC TCC GGG AAG GTG CGG GAC CCG CAG CTG GTG CGC ATG TTC CTC 479 Asp Asp Ser Gly Lys Val Arg Asp Pro Gin Leu Val Arg Met Phe Leu 145 150 155

ATG ATG CAC CCC TGG TAC ATC CCC TCC TCT CAG CTG GCG GCC AAG CTG 527 Met Met His Pro Trp Tyr lie Pro Ser Ser Gin Leu Ala Ala Lys Leu 160 165 170 175

CTC CAC ATC TAC CAA CAA TCC CGG AAG GAC AAC TCC AAT TCC CTG CAG 575 Leu His lie Tyr Gin Gin Ser Arg Lys Asp Asn Ser Asn Ser Leu Gin 180 185 190

GTG AAA ACG TGC CAC CTG GTC AGG TAC TGG ATC TCC GCC TTC CCA GCG 623 Val Lys Thr Cys His Leu Val Arg Tyr Trp lie Ser Ala Phe Pro Ala 195 200 205 GAG TTT GAC TTG AAC CCG GAG TTG GCT GAG CAG ATC AAG GAG CTG AAG 671 Glu Phe Asp Leu Asn Pro Glu Leu Ala Glu Gin lie Lys Glu Leu Lys 210 215 220

GCT CTG CTA GAC CAA GAA GGG AAC CGA CGG CAC AGC AGC CTA ATC GAC 719 Ala Leu Leu Asp Gin Glu Gly Asn Arg Arg His Ser Ser Leu lie Asp 225 230 235

ATA GAC AGC GTC CCT ACC TAC AAG TGG AAG CGG CAG GTG ACT CAG CGG 767 lie Asp Ser Val Pro Thr Tyr Lys Trp Lys Arg Gin Val Thr Gin Arg 240 245 250 255

AAC CCT GTG GGA CAG AAA AAG CGC AAG ATG TCC CTG TTG TTT GAC CAC 815 Asn Pro Val Gly Gin Lys Lys Arg Lys Met Ser Leu Leu Phe Asp His 260 265 270

CTG GAG CCC ATG GAG CTG GCG GAG CAT CTC ACC TAC TTG GAG TAT CGC 863 Leu Glu Pro Met Glu Leu Ala Glu His Leu Thr Tyr Leu Glu Tyr Arg 275 280 285

TCC TTC TGC AAG ATC CTG TTT CAG GAC TAT CAC AGT TTC GTG ACT CAT 911 Ser Phe Cys Lys lie Leu Phe Gin Asp Tyr His Ser Phe Val Thr His 290 295 300

GGC TGC ACT GTG GAC AAC CCC GTC CTG GAG CGG TTC ATC TCC CTC TTC 959 Gly Cys Thr Val Asp Asn Pro Val Leu Glu Arg Phe lie Ser Leu Phe 305 310 315

AAC AGC GTC TCA CAG TGG GTG CAG CTC ATG ATC CTC AGC AAA CCC ACA 1007 Asn Ser Val Ser Gin Trp Val Gin Leu Met lie Leu Ser Lys Pro Thr 320 325 330 335

GCC CCG CAG CGG GCC CTG GTC ATC ACA CAC TTT GTC CAC GTG GCG GAG 1055 Ala Pro Gin Arg Ala Leu Val lie Thr His Phe Val His Val Ala Glu 340 345 350

AAG CTG CTA CAG CTG CAG AAC TTC AAC ACG CTG ATG GCA GTG GTC GGG 1103 Lys Leu Leu Gin Leu Gin Asn Phe Asn Thr Leu Met Ala Val Val Gly 355 360 365

GGC CTG AGC CAC AGC TCC ATC TCC CGC CTC AAG GAG ACC CAC AGC CAC 1151 Gly Leu Ser His Ser Ser lie Ser Arg Leu Lys Glu Thr His Ser His 370 375 380

GTT AGC CCT GAG ACC ATC AAG CTC TGG GAG GGT CTC ACG GAA CTA GTG 1199 Val Ser Pro Glu Thr lie Lys Leu Trp Glu Gly Leu Thr Glu Leu Val 385 390 395

ACG GCG ACA GGC AAC TAT GGC AAC TAC CGG CGT CGG CTG GCA GCC TGT 1247 Thr Ala Thr Gly Asn Tyr Gly Asn Tyr Arg Arg Arg Leu Ala Ala Cys 400 405 410 415

GTG GGC TTC CGC TTC CCG ATC CTG GGT GTG CAC CTC AAG GAC CTG GTG 1295 Val Gly Phe Arg Phe Pro lie Leu Gly Val His Leu Lys Asp Leu Val 420 425 430

GCC CTG CAG CTG GCA CTG CCT GAC TGG CTG GAC CCA GCC CGG ACC CGG 1343 Ala Leu Gin Leu Ala Leu Pro Asp Trp Leu Asp Pro Ala Arg Thr Arg 435 440 445

CTC AAC GGG GCC AAG ATG AAG CAG CTC TTT AGC ATC CTG GAG GAG CTG 1391 Leu Asn Gly Ala Lys Met Lys Gin Leu Phe Ser lie Leu Glu Glu Leu 450 455 460

GCC ATG GTG ACC AGC CTG CGG CCA CCA GTA CAG GCC AAC CCC GAC CTG 1439 Ala Met Val Thr Ser Leu Arg Pro Pro Val Gin Ala Asn Pro Asp Leu 465 470 475 CTG AGC CTG CTC ACG GTG TCT CTG GAT CAG TAT CAG ACG GAG GAT GAG 1487 Leu Ser Leu Leu Thr Val Ser Leu Asp Gin Tyr Gin Thr Glu Asp Glu 480 485 490 495

CTG TAC CAG CTG TCC CTG CAG CGG GAG CCG CGC TCC AAG TCC TCG CCA 1535 Leu Tyr Gin Leu Ser Leu Gin Arg Glu Pro Arg Ser Lys Ser Ser Pro 500 505 510

ACC AGC CCC ACG AGT TGC ACC CCA CCA CCC CGG CCC CCG GTA CTG GAG 1583 Thr Ser Pro Thr Ser Cys Thr Pro Pro Pro Arg Pro Pro Val Leu Glu 515 520 525

GAG TGG ACC TCG GCT GCC AAA CCC AAG CTG GAT CAG GCC CTC GTG GTG 1631 Glu Trp Thr Ser Ala Ala Lys Pro Lys Leu Asp Gin Ala Leu Val Val 530 535 540

GAG CAC ATC GAG AAG ATG GTG GAG TCT GTG TTC CGG AAC TTT GAC GTC 1679 Glu His He Glu Lys Met Val Glu Ser Val Phe Arg Asn Phe Asp Val 545 550 555

GAT GGG GAT GGC CAC ATC TCA CAG GAA GAA TTC CAG ATC ATC CGT GGG 1727 Asp Gly Asp Gly His He Ser Gin Glu Glu Phe Gin He He Arg Gly 560 565 570 575

AAC TTC CCT TAC CTC AGC GCC TTT GGG GAC CTC GAC CAG AAC CAG GAT 1775 Asn Phe Pro Tyr Leu Ser Ala Phe Gly Asp Leu Asp Gin Asn Gin Asp 580 585 590

GGC TGC ATC AGC AGG GAG GAG ATG GTT TCC TAT TTC CTG CGC TCC AGC 1823 Gly Cys He Ser Arg Glu Glu Met Val Ser Tyr Phe Leu Arg Ser Ser 595 600 605

TCT GTG TTG GGG GGG CGC ATG GGC TTC GTA CAC AAC TTC CAG GAG AGC 1871 Ser Val Leu Gly Gly Arg Met Gly Phe Val His Asn Phe Gin Glu Ser 610 615 620

AAC TCC TTG CGC CCC GTC GCC TGC CGC CAC TGC AAA GCC CTG ATC CTG 1919 Asn Ser Leu Arg Pro Val Ala Cys Arg His Cys Lys Ala Leu He Leu 625 630 635

GGC ATC TAC AAG CAG GGC CTC AAA TGC CGA GCC TGT GGA GTG AAC TGC 1967 Gly He Tyr Lys Gin Gly Leu Lys Cys Arg Ala Cys Gly Val Asn Cys 640 645 650 655

CAC AAG CAG TGC AAG GAT CGC CTG TCA GTT GAG TGT CGG CGC AGG GCC 2015 His Lys Gin Cys Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Val Glu Cys Arg Arg Arg Ala 660 665 670

CAG AGT GTG AGC CTG GAG GGG TCT GCA CCC TCA CCC TCA CCC ATG CAC 2063 Gin Ser Val Ser Leu Glu Gly Ser Ala Pro Ser Pro Ser Pro Met His 675 680 685

AGC CAC CAT CAC CGC GCC TTC AGC TTC TCT CTG CCC CGC CCT GGC AGG 2111 Ser His His His Arg Ala Phe Ser Phe Ser Leu Pro Arg Pro Gly Arg 690 695 700

CGA GGC TCC AGG CCT CCA GAG ATC CGT GAG GAG GAG GTA CAG ACG GTG 2159 Arg Gly Ser Arg Pro Pro Glu He Arg Glu Glu Glu Val Gin Thr Val 705 710 715

GAG GAT GGG GTG TTT GAC ATC CAC TTG TA ATAGATGCTG TGGTTGGATC 2208

Glu Asp Gly Val Phe Asp He His Leu 720 725

AAGGACTCAT TCCTGCCTTG GAGAAAATAC TTCAACCAGA GCAGGGAGCC TGGGGGTGTC 2268

GGGGCAGGAG GCTGGGGATG GGGGTGGGAT ATGAGGGTGG CATGCAGCTG AGGGCAGGGC 2328 CAGGGCTGGT GTCCCTAAGG TTGTACAGAC TCTTGTGAAT ATTTGTATTT TCCAGATGGA 2388 ATAAAAAGGC CCGTGTAATT AACCTTC 2415

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 5:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 728 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 5 :

He Ser Phe Leu Ala Pro His Arg Ser Leu Ser Pro Lys Tyr Ser His 1 5 10 15

Leu Val Leu Ala His Pro Pro Asp Tyr Leu Lys Asp Gin Leu Ser Pro 20 25 30

Arg Pro Arg Pro Pro Leu Gly Leu Cys His Pro Leu Pro Ala Gly Arg 35 40 45

Arg Pro Val Pro Gly Arg Val Ser Pro Met Gly Thr Gin Arg Leu Cys 50 55 60

Gly Arg Gly Thr Gin Gly Trp Pro Gly Ser Ser Glu Gin His Val Gin 65 70 75 80

Glu Ala Thr Ser Ser Ala Gly Leu His Ser Gly Val Asp Glu Leu Gly 85 90 95

Val Arg Ser Glu Pro Gly Gly Arg Leu Pro Glu Arg Ser Leu Gly Pro 100 105 110

Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met Ala Gly Thr Leu Asp Leu Asp Lys 115 120 125

Gly Cys Thr Val Glu Glu Leu Leu Arg Gly Cys He Glu Ala Phe Asp 130 135 140

Asp Ser Gly Lys Val Arg Asp Pro Gin Leu Val Arg Met Phe Leu Met 145 150 155 160

Met His Pro Trp Tyr He Pro Ser Ser Gin Leu Ala Ala Lys Leu Leu 165 170 175

His He Tyr Gin Gin Ser Arg Lys Asp Asn Ser Asn Ser Leu Gin Val 180 185 190

Lys Thr Cys His Leu Val Arg Tyr Trp He Ser Ala Phe Pro Ala Glu 195 200 205

Phe Asp Leu Asn Pro Glu Leu Ala Glu Gin He Lys Glu Leu Lys Ala 210 215 220

Leu Leu Asp Gin Glu Gly Asn Arg Arg His Ser Ser Leu He Asp He 225 230 235 240

Asp Ser Val Pro Thr Tyr Lys Trp Lys Arg Gin Val Thr Gin Arg Asn 245 250 255

Pro Val Gly Gin Lys Lys Arg Lys Met Ser Leu Leu Phe Asp His Leu 260 265 270 Glu Pro Met Glu Leu Ala Glu His Leu Thr Tyr Leu Glu Tyr Arg Ser 275 280 285

Phe Cys Lys He Leu Phe Gin Asp Tyr His Ser Phe Val Thr His Gly 290 295 300

Cys Thr Val Asp Asn Pro Val Leu Glu Arg Phe He Ser Leu Phe Asn 305 310 315 320

Ser Val Ser Gin Trp Val Gin Leu Met He Leu Ser Lys Pro Thr Ala 325 330 335

Pro Gin Arg Ala Leu Val He Thr His Phe Val His Val Ala Glu Lys 340 345 350

Leu Leu Gin Leu Gin Asn Phe Asn Thr Leu Met Ala Val Val Gly Gly 355 360 365

Leu Ser His Ser Ser He Ser Arg Leu Lys Glu Thr His Ser His Val 370 375 380

Ser Pro Glu Thr He Lys Leu Trp Glu Gly Leu Thr Glu Leu Val Thr 385 390 395 400

Ala Thr Gly Asn Tyr Gly Asn Tyr Arg Arg Arg Leu Ala Ala Cys Val 405 410 415

Gly Phe Arg Phe Pro He Leu Gly Val His Leu Lys Asp Leu Val Ala 420 425 430

Leu Gin Leu Ala Leu Pro Asp Trp Leu Asp Pro Ala Arg Thr Arg Leu 435 440 445

Asn Gly Ala Lys Met Lys Gin Leu Phe Ser He Leu Glu Glu Leu Ala 450 455 460

Met Val Thr Ser Leu Arg Pro Pro Val Gin Ala Asn Pro Asp Leu Leu 465 470 475 480

Ser Leu Leu Thr Val Ser Leu Asp Gin Tyr Gin Thr Glu Asp Glu Leu 485 490 495

Tyr Gin Leu Ser Leu Gin Arg Glu Pro Arg Ser Lys Ser Ser Pro Thr 500 505 510

Ser Pro Thr Ser Cys Thr Pro Pro Pro Arg Pro Pro Val Leu Glu Glu 515 520 525

Trp Thr Ser Ala Ala Lys Pro Lys Leu Asp Gin Ala Leu Val Val Glu 530 535 540

His He Glu Lys Met Val Glu Ser Val Phe Arg Asn Phe Asp Val Asp 545 550 555 560

Gly Asp Gly His He Ser Gin Glu Glu Phe Gin He He Arg Gly Asn 565 570 575

Phe Pro Tyr Leu Ser Ala Phe Gly Asp Leu Asp Gin Asn Gin Asp Gly 580 585 590

Cys He Ser Arg Glu Glu Met Val Ser Tyr Phe Leu Arg Ser Ser Ser 595 600 605

Val Leu Gly Gly Arg Met Gly Phe Val His Asn Phe Gin Glu Ser Asn 610 615 620

Ser Leu Arg Pro Val Ala Cys Arg His Cys Lys Ala Leu He Leu Gly 625 630 635 640

He Tyr Lys Gin Gly Leu Lys Cys Arg Ala Cys Gly Val Asn Cys His 645 650 655

Lys Gin Cys Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Val Glu Cys Arg Arg Arg Ala Gin 660 665 670

Ser Val Ser Leu Glu Gly Ser Ala Pro Ser Pro Ser Pro Met His Ser 675 680 685

His His His Arg Ala Phe Ser Phe Ser Leu Pro Arg Pro Gly Arg Arg 690 695 700

Gly Ser Arg Pro Pro Glu He Arg Glu Glu Glu Val Gin Thr Val Glu 705 710 715 720

Asp Gly Val Phe Asp He His Leu 725

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 6:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 2309 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 254..2083

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 6 :

CGATTTCATT CCTCGCTCCC CACAGGTCCC TCTCCCCAAA ATATTCCCAT CTTGTCCTAG 60

CCCATCCCCC AGACTATCTC AAGGACCAGC TGTCCCCACG CCCCCGACCT CCACTAGGCC 120

TGTGCCACCC GCTGCCTGCA GGAAGACGCC CGGTCCCGGG CCGGGTTAGC CCCATGGGAA 180

CGGGGTTCGG TCCGAGCCCG GTGGGAGGCT CCCGGAGCGC AGCCTGGGCC CAGCCCACCC 240

CGCGCCGGCG GCC ATG GCA GGC ACC CTG GAC CTG GAC AAG GGC TGC ACG 289 Met Ala Gly Thr Leu Asp Leu Asp Lys Gly Cys Thr 1 5 10

GTG GAG GAG CTG CTC CGC GGG TGC ATC GAA GCC TTC GAT GAC TCC GGG 337 Val Glu Glu Leu Leu Arg Gly Cys He Glu Ala Phe Asp Asp Ser Gly 15 20 25

AAG GTG CGG GAC CCG CAG CTG GTG CGC ATG TTC CTC ATG ATG CAC CCC 385 Lys Val Arg Asp Pro Gin Leu Val Arg Met Phe Leu Met Met His Pro 30 35 40

TGG TAC ATC CCC TCC TCT CAG CTG GCG GCC AAG CTG CTC CAC ATC TAC 433 Trp Tyr He Pro Ser Ser Gin Leu Ala Ala Lys Leu Leu His He Tyr 45 50 55 60

CAA CAA TCC CGG AAG GAC AAC TCC AAT TCC CTG CAG GTG AAA ACG TGC 481 Gin Gin Ser Arg Lys Asp Asn Ser Asn Ser Leu Gin Val Lys Thr Cys 65 70 75

CAC CTG GTC AGG TAC TGG ATC TCC GCC TTC CCA GCG GAG TTT GAC TTG 529 His Leu Val Arg Tyr Trp He Ser Ala Phe Pro Ala Glu Phe Asp Leu 80 85 90

AAC CCG GAG TTG GCT GAG CAG ATC AAG GAG CTG AAG GCT CTG CTA GAC 577 Asn Pro Glu Leu Ala Glu Gin He Lys Glu Leu Lys Ala Leu Leu Asp 95 100 105

CAA GAA GGG AAC CGA CGG CAC AGC AGC CTA ATC GAC ATA GAC AGC GTC 625 Gin Glu Gly Asn Arg Arg His Ser Ser Leu He Asp He Asp Ser Val 110 115 120

CCT ACC TAC AAG TGG AAG CGG CAG GTG ACT CAG CGG AAC CCT GTG GGA 673 Pro Thr Tyr Lys Trp Lys Arg Gin Val Thr Gin Arg Asn Pro Val Gly 125 130 135 140

CAG AAA AAG CGC AAG ATG TCC CTG TTG TTT GAC CAC CTG GAG CCC ATG 721 Gin Lys Lys Arg Lys Met Ser Leu Leu Phe Asp His Leu Glu Pro Met 145 150 155

GAG CTG GCG GAG CAT CTC ACC TAC TTG GAG TAT CGC TCC TTC TGC AAG 769 Glu Leu Ala Glu His Leu Thr Tyr Leu Glu Tyr Arg Ser Phe Cys Lys 160 165 170

ATC CTG TTT CAG GAC TAT CAC AGT TTC GTG ACT CAT GGC TGC ACT GTG 817 He Leu Phe Gin Asp Tyr His Ser Phe Val Thr His Gly Cys Thr Val 175 180 185

GAC AAC CCC GTC CTG GAG CGG TTC ATC TCC CTC TTC AAC AGC GTC TCA 865 Asp Asn Pro Val Leu Glu Arg Phe He Ser Leu Phe Asn Ser Val Ser 190 195 200

CAG TGG GTG CAG CTC ATG ATC CTC AGC AAA CCC ACA GCC CCG CAG CGG 913 Gin Trp Val Gin Leu Met He Leu Ser Lys Pro Thr Ala Pro Gin Arg 205 210 215 220

GCC CTG GTC ATC ACA CAC TTT GTC CAC GTG GCG GAG AAG CTG CTA CAG 961 Ala Leu Val He Thr His Phe Val His Val Ala Glu Lys Leu Leu Gin 225 230 235

CTG CAG AAC TTC AAC ACG CTG ATG GCA GTG GTC GGG GGC CTG AGC CAC 1009 Leu Gin Asn Phe Asn Thr Leu Met Ala Val Val Gly Gly Leu Ser His 240 245 250

AGC TCC ATC TCC CGC CTC AAG GAG ACC CAC AGC CAC GTT AGC CCT GAG 1057 Ser Ser He Ser Arg Leu Lys Glu Thr His Ser His Val Ser Pro Glu 255 260 265

ACC ATC AAG CTC TGG GAG GGT CTC ACG GAA CTA GTG ACG GCG ACA GGC 1105 Thr He Lys Leu Trp Glu Gly Leu Thr Glu Leu Val Thr Ala Thr Gly 270 275 280

AAC TAT GGC AAC TAC CGG CGT CGG CTG GCA GCC TGT GTG GGC TTC CGC 1153 Asn Tyr Gly Asn Tyr Arg Arg Arg Leu Ala Ala Cys Val Gly Phe Arg 285 290 295 300

TTC CCG ATC CTG GGT GTG CAC CTC AAG GAC CTG GTG GCC CTG CAG CTG 1201 Phe Pro He Leu Gly Val His Leu Lys Asp Leu Val Ala Leu Gin Leu 305 310 315

GCA CTG CCT GAC TGG CTG GAC CCA GCC CGG ACC CGG CTC AAC GGG GCC 1249 Ala Leu Pro Asp Trp Leu Asp Pro Ala Arg Thr Arg Leu Asn Gly Ala 320 325 330

AAG ATG AAG CAG CTC TTT AGC ATC CTG GAG GAG CTG GCC ATG GTG ACC 1297 Lys Met Lys Gin Leu Phe Ser He Leu Glu Glu Leu Ala Met Val Thr 335 340 345 AGC CTG CGG CCA CCA GTA CAG GCC AAC CCC GAC CTG CTG AGC CTG CTC 1345 Ser Leu Arg Pro Pro Val Gin Ala Asn Pro Asp Leu Leu Ser Leu Leu 350 355 360

ACG GTG TCT CTG GAT CAG TAT CAG ACG GAG GAT GAG CTG TAC CAG CTG 1393 Thr Val Ser Leu Asp Gin Tyr Gin Thr Glu Asp Glu Leu Tyr Gin Leu 365 370 375 380

TCC CTG CAG CGG GAG CCG CGC TCC AAG TCC TCG CCA ACC AGC CCC ACG 1441 Ser Leu Gin Arg Glu Pro Arg Ser Lys Ser Ser Pro Thr Ser Pro Thr 385 390 395

AGT TGC ACC CCA CCA CCC CGG CCC CCG GTA CTG GAG GAG TGG ACC TCG 1489 Ser Cys Thr Pro Pro Pro Arg Pro Pro Val Leu Glu Glu Trp Thr Ser 400 405 410

GCT GCC AAA CCC AAG CTG GAT CAG GCC CTC GTG GTG GAG CAC ATC GAG 1537 Ala Ala Lys Pro Lys Leu Asp Gin Ala Leu Val Val Glu His He Glu 415 420 425

AAG ATG GTG GAG TCT GTG TTC CGG AAC TTT GAC GTC GAT GGG GAT GGC 1585 Lys Met Val Glu Ser Val Phe Arg Asn Phe Asp Val Asp Gly Asp Gly 430 435 440

CAC ATC TCA CAG GAA GAA TTC CAG ATC ATC CGT GGG AAC TTC CCT TAC 1633 His He Ser Gin Glu Glu Phe Gin He He Arg Gly Asn Phe Pro Tyr 445 450 455 460

CTC AGC GCC TTT GGG GAC CTC GAC CAG AAC CAG GAT GGC TGC ATC AGC 1681 Leu Ser Ala Phe Gly Asp Leu Asp Gin Asn Gin Asp Gly Cys He Ser 465 470 475

AGG GAG GAG ATG GTT TCC TAT TTC CTG CGC TCC AGC TCT GTG TTG GGG 1729 Arg Glu Glu Met Val Ser Tyr Phe Leu Arg Ser Ser Ser Val Leu Gly 480 485 490

GGG CGC ATG GGC TTC GTA CAC AAC TTC CAG GAG AGC AAC TCC TTG CGC 1777 Gly Arg Met Gly Phe Val His Asn Phe Gin Glu Ser Asn Ser Leu Arg 495 500 505

CCC GTC GCC TGC CGC CAC TGC AAA GCC CTG ATC CTG GGC ATC TAC AAG 1825 Pro Val Ala Cys Arg His Cys Lys Ala Leu He Leu Gly He Tyr Lys 510 515 520

CAG GGC CTC AAA TGC CGA GCC TGT GGA GTG AAC TGC CAC AAG CAG TGC 1873 Gin Gly Leu Lys Cys Arg Ala Cys Gly Val Asn Cys His Lys Gin Cys 525 530 535 540

AAG GAT CGC CTG TCA GTT GAG TGT CGG CGC AGG GCC CAG AGT GTG AGC 1921 Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Val Glu Cys Arg Arg Arg Ala Gin Ser Val Ser 545 550 555

CTG GAG GGG TCT GCA CCC TCA CCC TCA CCC ATG CAC AGC CAC CAT CAC 1969 Leu Glu Gly Ser Ala Pro Ser Pro Ser Pro Met His Ser His His His 560 565 570

CGC GCC TTC AGC TTC TCT CTG CCC CGC CCT GGC AGG CGA GGC TCC AGG 2017 Arg Ala Phe Ser Phe Ser Leu Pro Arg Pro Gly Arg Arg Gly Ser Arg 575 580 585

CCT CCA GAG ATC CGT GAG GAG GAG GTA CAG ACG GTG GAG GAT GGG GTG 2065 Pro Pro Glu He Arg Glu Glu Glu Val Gin Thr Val Glu Asp Gly Val 590 595 600

TTT GAC ATC CAC TTG TAATAGATGC TGTGGTTGGA TCAAGGACTC ATTCCTGCCT 2120 Phe Asp He His Leu 605 610 TGGAGAAAAT ACTTCAACCA GAGCAGGGAG CCTGGGGGTG TCGGGGCAGG AGGCTGGGGA 2180

TGGGGGTGGG ATATGAGGGT GGCATGCAGC TGAGGGCAGG GCCAGGGCTG GTGTCCCTAA 2240

GGTTGTACAG ACTCTTGTGA ATATTTGTAT TTTCCAGATG GAATAAAAAG GCCCGTGTAA 2300

TTAACCTTC 2309

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 7:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 609 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 7 :

Met Ala Gly Thr Leu Asp Leu Asp Lys Gly Cys Thr Val Glu Glu Leu 1 5 10 15

Leu Arg Gly Cys He Glu Ala Phe Asp Asp Ser Gly Lys Val Arg Asp 20 25 30

Pro Gin Leu Val Arg Met Phe Leu Met Met His Pro Trp Tyr He Pro 35 40 45

Ser Ser Gin Leu Ala Ala Lys Leu Leu His He Tyr Gin Gin Ser Arg 50 55 60

Lys Asp Asn Ser Asn Ser Leu Gin Val Lys Thr Cys His Leu Val Arg 65 70 75 80

Tyr Trp He Ser Ala Phe Pro Ala Glu Phe Asp Leu Asn Pro Glu Leu 85 90 95

Ala Glu Gin He Lys Glu Leu Lys Ala Leu Leu Asp Gin Glu Gly Asn 100 105 110

Arg Arg His Ser Ser Leu He Asp He Asp Ser Val Pro Thr Tyr Lys 115 120 125

Trp Lys Arg Gin Val Thr Gin Arg Asn Pro Val Gly Gin Lys Lys Arg 130 135 140

Lys Met Ser Leu Leu Phe Asp His Leu Glu Pro Met Glu Leu Ala Glu 145 150 155 160

His Leu Thr Tyr Leu Glu Tyr Arg Ser Phe Cys Lys He Leu Phe Gin 165 170 175

Asp Tyr His Ser Phe Val Thr His Gly Cys Thr Val Asp Asn Pro Val 180 185 190

Leu Glu Arg Phe He Ser Leu Phe Asn Ser Val Ser Gin Trp Val Gin 195 200 205

Leu Met He Leu Ser Lys Pro Thr Ala Pro Gin Arg Ala Leu Val He 210 215 220

Thr His Phe Val His Val Ala Glu Lys Leu Leu Gin Leu Gin Asn Phe 225 230 235 240

Asn Thr Leu Met Ala Val Val Gly Gly Leu Ser His Ser Ser He Ser 245 250 255 Arg Leu Lys Glu Thr His Ser His Val Ser Pro Glu Thr He Lys Leu 260 265 270

Trp Glu Gly Leu Thr Glu Leu Val Thr Ala Thr Gly Asn Tyr Gly Asn 275 280 285

Tyr Arg Arg Arg Leu Ala Ala Cys Val Gly Phe Arg Phe Pro He Leu 290 295 300

Gly Val His Leu Lys Asp Leu Val Ala Leu Gin Leu Ala Leu Pro Asp 305 310 315 320

Trp Leu Asp Pro Ala Arg Thr Arg Leu Asn Gly Ala Lys Met Lys Gin 325 330 335

Leu Phe Ser He Leu Glu Glu Leu Ala Met Val Thr Ser Leu Arg Pro 340 345 350

Pro Val Gin Ala Asn Pro Asp Leu Leu Ser Leu Leu Thr Val Ser Leu 355 360 365

Asp Gin Tyr Gin Thr Glu Asp Glu Leu Tyr Gin Leu Ser Leu Gin Arg 370 375 380

Glu Pro Arg Ser Lys Ser Ser Pro Thr Ser Pro Thr Ser Cys Thr Pro 385 390 395 400

Pro Pro Arg Pro Pro Val Leu Glu Glu Trp Thr Ser Ala Ala Lys Pro 405 410 415

Lys Leu Asp Gin Ala Leu Val Val Glu His He Glu Lys Met Val Glu 420 425 430

Ser Val Phe Arg Asn Phe Asp Val Asp Gly Asp Gly His He Ser Gin 435 440 445

Glu Glu Phe Gin He He Arg Gly Asn Phe Pro Tyr Leu Ser Ala Phe 450 455 460

Gly Asp Leu Asp Gin Asn Gin Asp Gly Cys He Ser Arg Glu Glu Met 465 470 475 480

Val Ser Tyr Phe Leu Arg Ser Ser Ser Val Leu Gly Gly Arg Met Gly 485 490 495

Phe Val His Asn Phe Gin Glu Ser Asn Ser Leu Arg Pro Val Ala Cys 500 505 510

Arg His Cys Lys Ala Leu He Leu Gly He Tyr Lys Gin Gly Leu Lys 515 520 525

Cys Arg Ala Cys Gly Val Asn Cys His Lys Gin Cys Lys Asp Arg Leu 530 535 540

Ser Val Glu Cys Arg Arg Arg Ala Gin Ser Val Ser Leu Glu Gly Ser 545 550 555 560

Ala Pro Ser Pro Ser Pro Met His Ser His His His Arg Ala Phe Ser 565 570 575

Phe Ser Leu Pro Arg Pro Gly Arg Arg Gly Ser Arg Pro Pro Glu He 580 585 590

Arg Glu Glu Glu Val Gin Thr Val Glu Asp Gly Val Phe Asp He His 595 600 605

Leu (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 8 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 832 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 11..733

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 8 :

GCCCGCCGCC ATG CCG CCC TTA CTG CCC CTG CGC CTG TGC CGG CTG TGG 49

Met Pro Pro Leu Leu Pro Leu Arg Leu Cys Arg Leu Trp 1 5 10

CCC CGC AAC CCT CCC TCC CGG CTC CTC GGA GCG GCC GCC GGG CAG CGG 97 Pro Arg Asn Pro Pro Ser Arg Leu Leu Gly Ala Ala Ala Gly Gin Arg 15 20 25

TCC AGA CCC AGT ACT TAT TAT GAA CTG TTG GGG GTG CAT CCT GGT GCC 145 Ser Arg Pro Ser Thr Tyr Tyr Glu Leu Leu Gly Val His Pro Gly Ala 30 35 40 45

AGC ACT GAG GAA GTT AAA CGA GCT TTC TTC TCC AAG TCC AAA GAG CTG 193 Ser Thr Glu Glu Val Lys Arg Ala Phe Phe Ser Lys Ser Lys Glu Leu 50 55 60

CAC CCA GAC CGG GAC CCT GGG AAC CCA AGC CTG CAC AGC CGC TTT GTG 241 His Pro Asp Arg Asp Pro Gly Asn Pro Ser Leu His Ser Arg Phe Val 65 70 75

GAG CTG AGC GAG GCA TAC CGT GTG CTC AGC CGT GAG CAG AGC CGC CGC 289 Glu Leu Ser Glu Ala Tyr Arg Val Leu Ser Arg Glu Gin Ser Arg Arg 80 85 90

AGC TAT GAT GAC CAG CTC CGC TCA GGT AGT CCC CCA AAG TCT CCA CGA 337 Ser Tyr Asp Asp Gin Leu Arg Ser Gly Ser Pro Pro Lys Ser Pro Arg 95 100 105

ACC ACA GTC CAT GAC AAG TCT GCC CAC CAA ACA CAC AGC TCC TGG ACA 385 Thr Thr Val His Asp Lys Ser Ala His Gin Thr His Ser Ser Trp Thr 110 115 120 125

CCC CCC AAC GCA CAG TAC TGG TCC CAG TTT CAC AGC GTG AGG CCA CAG 433 Pro Pro Asn Ala Gin Tyr Trp Ser Gin Phe His Ser Val Arg Pro Gin 130 135 140

GGG CCC CAG TTG AGG CAG CAG CAA CAC AAA CAA AAC AAA CAA GTG CTG 481 Gly Pro Gin Leu Arg Gin Gin Gin His Lys Gin Asn Lys Gin Val Leu 145 150 155

GGG TAC TGC CTC CTC CTC ATG CTG GCG GGC ATG GGC CTG CAC TAC ATT 529 Gly Tyr Cys Leu Leu Leu Met Leu Ala Gly Met Gly Leu His Tyr He 160 165 170

GCC TTC AGG AAG GTG AAG CAG ATG CAC CTT AAC TTC ATG GAT GAA AAG 577 Ala Phe Arg Lys Val Lys Gin Met His Leu Asn Phe Met Asp Glu Lys 175 180 185 GAT CGG ATC ATC ACA GCC TTC TAC AAC GAA GCC CGG GCA CGG GCC AGG 625 Asp Arg He He Thr Ala Phe Tyr Asn Glu Ala Arg Ala Arg Ala Arg 190 195 200 205

GCC AAC AGA GGC ATC CTT CAG CAG GAG CGA CAA CGG CTA GGG CAG CGG 673 Ala Asn Arg Gly He Leu Gin Gin Glu Arg Gin Arg Leu Gly Gin Arg 210 215 220

CAG CCG CCA CCA TCC GAG CCA ACC CAA GGC CCC GAG ATC GTG CCC CGG 721 Gin Pro Pro Pro Ser Glu Pro Thr Gin Gly Pro Glu He Val Pro Arg 225 230 235

GGC GCC GGC CCC TGA GGGGCTC ACCTGGATGG GGCCTGCAGT GCGTTCCCGC 773

Gly Ala Gly Pro * 240

TTTGCTTCCT TCCCTGGACG GCCCGCTCCC CGAAACGCGC GCAATAAAGT GATTCGCAG 832

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 9:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 241 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 9 :

Met Pro Pro Leu Leu Pro Leu Arg Leu Cys Arg Leu Trp Pro Arg Asn 1 5 10 15

Pro Pro Ser Arg Leu Leu Gly Ala Ala Ala Gly Gin Arg Ser Arg Pro 20 25 30

Ser Thr Tyr Tyr Glu Leu Leu Gly Val His Pro Gly Ala Ser Thr Glu 35 40 45

Glu Val Lys Arg Ala Phe Phe Ser Lys Ser Lys Glu Leu His Pro Asp 50 55 60

Arg Asp Pro Gly Asn Pro Ser Leu His Ser Arg Phe Val Glu Leu Ser 65 70 75 80

Glu Ala Tyr Arg Val Leu Ser Arg Glu Gin Ser Arg Arg Ser Tyr Asp 85 90 95

Asp Gin Leu Arg Ser Gly Ser Pro Pro Lys Ser Pro Arg Thr Thr Val 100 105 110

His Asp Lys Ser Ala His Gin Thr His Ser Ser Trp Thr Pro Pro Asn 115 120 125

Ala Gin Tyr Trp Ser Gin Phe His Ser Val Arg Pro Gin Gly Pro Gin 130 135 140

Leu Arg Gin Gin Gin His Lys Gin Asn Lys Gin Val Leu Gly Tyr Cys 145 150 155 160

Leu Leu Leu Met Leu Ala Gly Met Gly Leu His Tyr He Ala Phe Arg 165 170 175

Lys Val Lys Gin Met His Leu Asn Phe Met Asp Glu Lys Asp Arg He 180 185 190

He Thr Ala Phe Tyr Asn Glu Ala Arg Ala Arg Ala Arg Ala Asn Arg 195 200 205

Gly He Leu Gin Gin Glu Arg Gin Arg Leu Gly Gin Arg Gin Pro Pro

210 215 220

Pro Ser Glu Pro Thr Gin Gly Pro Glu He Val Pro Arg Gly Ala Gly

225 230 235 240

Pro

SEQ ID Nos: 10-18 25-36

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 7 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 300 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(ix) FEATURE:

(A) NAME/KEY: CDS

(B) LOCATION: 170..300

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 7 :

CGATTTCATT CCTCGCTCCC CACAGGTCCC TCTCCCCAAA ATATTCCCAT CTTGTCCTAG 60

CCCATCCCCC AGACTATCTC AAGGACCAGC TGTCCCCACG CCCCCGACCT CCACTAGGCC 120

TGTGCCACCC GCTGCCTGCA GGAAGACGCC CGGTCCCGGG CCGGGTTAG CCC CAT 175

Pro His

1

GGG AAC GGG GTT CGG TCC GAG CCC GGT GGG AGG CTC CCG GAG CGC AGC 223 Gly Asn Gly Val Arg Ser Glu Pro Gly Gly Arg Leu Pro Glu Arg Ser 5 10 15

CTG GGC CCA GCC CAC CCC GCG CCG GCG GCC ATG GCA GGC ACC CTG GAC 271 Leu Gly Pro Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met Ala Gly Thr Leu Asp 20 25 30

CTG GAC AAG GGC TGC ACG GTG GAG GAG CT 300

Leu Asp Lys Gly Cys Thr Val Glu Glu Leu 35 40

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO : 8 :

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 44 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 8 :

Pro His Gly Asn Gly Val Arg Ser Glu Pro Gly Gly Arg Leu Pro Glu 1 5 10 15

Arg Ser Leu Gly Pro Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met Ala Gly Thr 20 25 30

Leu Asp Leu Asp Lys Gly Cys Thr Val Glu Glu Leu 35 40

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 9:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO : 9 : GGGATCCCCC TGGTC 15

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 10:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 13 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 10:

Asp Val Asp Glu Glu Asp Glu Val Glu Asp He Glu Phe 1 5 10

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 11:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 13 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 11:

Asp Val Asp Gly Asp Gly His He Ser Gin Glu Glu Phe 1 5 10

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 12:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 13 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 12:

Asp His Asp Arg Asp Gly Phe He Ser Gin Glu Glu Phe 1 5 10

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 13:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 13 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 13:

Asp Gin Asn Gin Asp Gly Cys He Ser Arg Glu Glu Met 1 5 10

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 14:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 13 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 14:

Asp Val Asp Met Asp Gly Gin He Ser Lys Asp Glu Leu 1 5 10

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 15:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 37 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 15:

His Phe Val His Val Ala Glu Lys Leu Leu Gin Leu Gin Asn Phe Asn 1 5 10 15

Thr Leu Met Ala Val Val Gly Gly Leu Ser His Ser Ser He Ser Arg 20 25 30 Leu Lys Glu Thr His 35

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 16:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 37 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 16:

Lys Phe Val His Val Ala Lys His Leu Arg Lys He Asn Asn Phe Asn 1 5 10 15

Thr Leu Met Ser Val Val Gly Gly He Thr His Ser Ser Val Ala Arg 20 25 30

Leu Ala Lys Thr Tyr 35

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 17:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 50 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 17:

His Asn Phe Gin Glu Ser Asn Ser Leu Arg Pro Val Ala Cys Arg His 1 5 10 15

Cys Lys Ala Leu He Leu Gly He Tyr Lys Gin Gly Leu Lys Cys Arg 20 25 30

Ala Cys Gly Val Asn Cys His Lys Gin Cys Lys Asp Arg Leu Ser Val 35 40 45

Glu Cys 50

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 18:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 50 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: Peptide

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 18: His Asn Phe His Glu Thr Thr Phe Leu Thr Pro Thr Thr Cys Asn His 1 5 10 15

Cys Asn Lys Leu Leu Trp Gly He Leu Arg Gin Gly Phe Lys Cys Lys 20 25 30

Asp Cys Gly Leu Ala Val His Ser Cys Cys Lys Ser Asn Ala Val Ala 35 40 45

Glu Cys 50

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 19:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 15 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 19: GGGATCCCCC TGGTC 15

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 20:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 20: GAATTCGGCA CGAGCCGACG G 21

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 21:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 78 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 21: ATGGAGCAGA AGCTGATCTC CGAGGAGGAC CTGCCCGGGG CAGCTGGATC CGCAGCCCAC 60 CCCGCGCCGG CGGCCATG 78

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 22: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 26 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 22:

Met Glu Gin Lys Leu He Ser Glu Glu Asp Leu Pro Gly Ala Ala Gly 1 5 10 15

Ser Ala Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met 20 25

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 23:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 33 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:23: GGATCCGCAG CCCACCCCGC GCCGGCGGCC ATG 33

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 24:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 11 amino acids

(B) TYPE: amino acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 24:

Gly Ser Ala Ala His Pro Ala Pro Ala Ala Met

5 10

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 25:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 25: GGACAAAGTG TGTGATGAAC C 21

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 26:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 26: CTCATCCTCC GTCTGATACT G 21

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 27:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 27: GTAGATGTGG ATCAGCTTGG 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 28:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 28: AGGTGGAGAA TGGTCAAGG 19

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 29:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 29: GTCATAGTCT GTCTCCTACT 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 30:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 30: ACATAGACAG CGTGCCTACC 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 31:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 31: TACAACCTTA GGGACACCAG 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 32:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 32: TGCTGAGCCT GCTCACGGTG 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 33:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 33: CAAGTGAACA GCACGTCC 18

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 34: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 34: GACTATCTCA AGGACCAGCT G 21

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 35:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO:35: GGTTCGGTCC GAGCCCGG 18

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 36:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(Xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 36: GGAGCGATAC TCCAAGTAGG T 21

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 37:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 18 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 37: AGCGGGCCAG GCCCCTTC 18

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 38: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 38: CATCCTGGTC CAATGCGCTC 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 39:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 22 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 39: GCACTGAGGA AGTTAAACGA GC 22

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 40:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 22 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 40: GCTCGTTTAA CTTCCTCAGT GC 22

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 41:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 21 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 41:

GCTCAGCTCC ACAAAGCGGC T 21

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 42: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 42:

ACCAGCTCCG CTCAGGTAG 19

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 43:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 43:

TCCAGGAGCT GTGTGTTTGG 20

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 44:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 44:

CCAGTTTCAC AGCGTGAGG 19

(2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ID NO: 45:

(i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS:

(A) LENGTH: 19 base pairs

(B) TYPE: nucleic acid

(C) STRANDEDNESS: single

(D) TOPOLOGY: linear

(ii) MOLECULE TYPE: DNA

(xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ ID NO: 45:

CAGCATGAGG AGGAGGCAG 19

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence of nucleotides encoding or complementary to a sequence encoding an amino acid sequence having homology to a regulator of gene expression or a derivative of said gene regulator.

2. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 wherein the regulator comprises a zinc finger domain of an (HC₃)₂ type.

3. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 2 wherein the sequence of nucleotides or complementary sequence of nucleotides is selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2;

(ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 3;

(iii) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and (iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridising under low stringency conditions to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

4. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 wherein said gene regulator is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) or a derivative thereof.

5. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 4 wherein the sequence of nucleotides is selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4 or 6;

(ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:5 or

7; (iii) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and (iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridising under low stringency conditions to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

6. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1, wherein said gene regulator is a heat shock protein or is a heat shock binding protein or a derivative thereof.

7. An isolated nucleic acid molecule according to claim 6, wherein the sequence of nucleotides is selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ED NO:8;

(ii) a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:9;

8. A genetic construct comprising a vector portion and a gene portion comprising a regulator of gene expression or a derivative thereof .

9. A genetic construct according to claim 8 wherein the gene portion comprises a zinc finger domain of (HC₃)₂ type.

10. A genetic construct according to claim 9 wherein the gene portion comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2;

1 1. A genetic construct according to claim 8 wherein said gene portion is a nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) or derivative thereof.

12. A genetic construct according to claim 11 wherein the gene portion comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:4 or 6;

7; (hi) a nucleotide sequence having at least about 40% similarity to the nucleotide sequence of (i) or (ii); and (iv) a nucleotide sequence capable of hybridising under low stringency conditions to the nucleotide sequence set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii).

13. A genetic construct according to claim 8 wherein the gene portion is a heat shock protein or a derivative thereof or a heat shock binding protein or derivative thereof.

14. A genetic construct according to claim 13 wherein the gene portion comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from:

(i) a nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 8;

15. A nucleic acid molecule encoding a gene regulator having the identifying characteristics of a molecule selected fromMCG4, MCG7 and MCG 18 having respective amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO: 5 or 7 and SEQ ID NO:9.

16. A method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg4, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcg4 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

17. A method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg4, said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG4 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

18. A method for detecting MCG4 or a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG4 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG4 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

19. A method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg7, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said mcg7 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

20. A method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcg7, said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG7 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

21. A method for detecting MCG7 J╬ô a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG7 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG7 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.

22. A method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcgl8, said method comprising determining the presence of a single or multiple nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration to one or both alleles of said meg 18 wherein the presence of such a nucleotide substitution, deletion and/or addition or other aberration may be indicative of said condition or a propensity to develop said condition.

23. A method of detecting a condition caused or facilitated by an aberration in mcgl8, said method comprising screening for a single or multiple amino acid substitution, deletion and/or addition to MCG18 wherein the presence of such a mutation is indicative of or a propensity to develop said condition.

24. A method for detecting MCG 18 or a derivative thereof in a biological sample said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an antibody specific for MCG 18 or its derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an antibody-MCG18 complex to form, and then detecting said complex.