We have determined the complete sequence of human vinculin, a cytoskeletal protein associated with cell-cell and cell-matrx junctions. Comparison of human and chicken embryo vinculin sequences shows that both proteins contain 1066 amino acids and exhibit a high level of sequence identity (>95%). The region of greatest divergence falls within three 112-amino acid repeats spanning residues 259-589. Interestingly, nematode vinculin lacks one of these central repeats. The regions of human vinculin that are N-and Cterminal to the repeats show 54% and 61% sequence identity, respectively, to nematode vinculin. Southern blots of human genomic DNA hybridized with short vinculin cDNA fragments indicate that there is a single vinculin gene. By using a panel of human-rodent somatic cell hybrids, the human vinculin gene was mapped to chromosome 10qll.2-qter.

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