Isolation and expression analysis of a novel human homologue of the Drosophila glial cells missing (gcm) gene

Abstract
A novel human homologue (GCMB) of the Drosophila glial cells missing gene (dGCM) was isolated using RACE. GCMB contained a gcm motif sequence and a nuclear targeting sequence similar to that of dGCM and mouse GCMb. Homology searches indicated that GCMB was located within chromosome 6p24.2. Transcripts of GCMB were detected by means of RT‐PCR in fetal brain, normal adult kidney, 3/3 medulloblastomas, 1/3 gliomas and 4/8 non‐neuroepithelial tumor cell lines. Our data suggest that humans have two homologues of gcm like mice and that human gcm genes form a novel family which may function not only during fetal development but also in the postnatal or pathological stage.