BMP And Activin Membrane Bound Inhibitor Homolog (BAMBI)

By subtractive hybridization screening of melanoma cell lines of different metastatic potential, Degen et al. (1996) isolated a cDNA encoding a 260-amino acid protein designated NMA. Unlike calcyclin and thymosin-beta-10, which are expressed in highly metastatic lines, NMA and NMB are expressed in poorly metastatic melanoma cell lines. The predicted NMA protein contains a signal sequence and a transmembrane domain. Northern blot analysis revealed that expression of NMA was high in melanocytes and in 3 of 4 melanoma metastases with strong pigmentation, but low or absent in 7 other metastases. Its expression is also high in kidney medulla, placenta, and spleen but low in kidney cortex, liver, prostate, and gut. It is not expressed in lung, normal skin tissue, or muscle.