N-Terminal Asparagine Amidase (NTAN1)

Ntan1 encode a 310-residue amidohydrolase specific for N-terminal asparagine. The ;17-kilobase pair Ntan1 gene is located in the proximal region of mouse chromosome 16 and contains 10 exons ranging from 54 to 177 base pairs in length. The ;1.4-kilobase pair Ntan1 mRNA is expressed in all of the tested mouse tissues and cell lines and is down-regulated upon the conversion of myoblasts into myotubes. The Ntan1 promoter is located ;500 base pairs upstream of the Ntan1 start codon. The deduced amino acid sequence of mouse NtN-amidase is 88% identical to the sequence of its porcine counterpart, but bears no significant similarity to the sequence of the NTA1-encoded N-terminal amidohydrolase of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which can deamidate either N-terminal asparagine or glutamine.