Stathmin is a ubiquitous phosphoprotein proposed to be a relay integrating various intracellular signaling pathways. Its high phylogenetic conservation and the identification of the related molecules, SCGIO in rat and XB3 in Xenopus, suggested the existence of a stathmin-related family. A systematic PCR-based approach allowed the identification of several novel mammalian sequences of which two coded for expressed members of the stathmin family; the translated RB3 sequence shares 88 % amino-acid identity with that of XB3 and is thus its rat homologue, and RB3' corresponds to an alternatively spliced product of the same gene, encoding a truncated form. Within their stathmin-like domain, the a helix, probably responsible for coiled-coil protein-protein interactions, is conserved, as well as are two consensus phosphorylation sites ; in their N-terminal extension domain, two cystein residues most likely responsible for membrane attachment through palmitoylation, are present in RB3/RB3' as in SCGIO. The novel identification and characterization of the corresponding proteins showed that all three are associated with the particulate, membrane-containing fraction. They furthermore display several spots of decreasing PI on two-dimensional immunoblots, suggesting that they are phosphorylated in uiuo. As for SCGIO, RB3 mRNA is detectable only in the nervous system by in situ hybridization, but at similar levels in the newborn and the adult brain as revealed by Northern blots, whereas SCGlO expression decreases in the adult. Furthermore, RB3 mRNA is undetectable in PC12 cells, whereas SCGlO mRNA increases after treatment with nerve growth factor, inducing neuronal differentiation. In conclusion, we demonstrate here the existence of a highly conserved stathmin-related family in mammals, of which each member seems to play specific roles, related to the control of cell proliferation and activities for stathmin and to that of neuronal differentiation for SCG10, the novel RBYRB3' proteins being rather related to the expression of differentiated neuronal functions. phosphorylation of its regulatory domain, conveying them to diverse target proteins 127, 331. In addition to its high molecular and biological conservation among vertebrates [4, 341, stathmin was identified as the generic element of a molecular family, of which two other members, SCGlO and XB3, have been identified previously. SCG10, which was first identified in rat as a marker of neuronal differentiation [35], contains a C-terminal stathmin-like domain and a specific N-terminal domain which might be responsible for the membrane association of SCGlO [36]. The other stathmin-related sequence was previously identified as the XB3 cDNA in Xencyus [34]. As SCGIO, the corresponding mRNA was detected exclusively in the nervous system, and its sequence revealed a similar structural organization of the corresponding protein.
KeywordsThe existence of SCGIO and XB3 sequences containing a stathmin-like domain, as well as the previously recognized similar intron/exon structure of S...