Bactericidal/Permeability Increasing Protein Like Protein 1 (BPIL1)

BPIL1 encodes a member of the lipid transfer/lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LT/LBP) gene family. This gene and three other members of the LT/LBP gene family form a cluster on the long arm of chromosome 20. BPI and other members of the LT/LBP family are structurally related proteins capable of binding phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides. Real-time PCR studies indicate that BPIL1 and BPIL3 are highly expressed in hypertrophic tonsils. BPIL1 and BPIL3 map to Chromosome 20q11; thus, these novel genes form a cluster with BPI and two other members of the LT/LBP gene family on the long arm of human Chr 20. BPIL2maps to Chr 22q13. The exon/intron organization of all three genes is highly conserved with that of BPI, suggesting evolution from a common ancestor.