Glia Maturation Factor Beta (GMFb)

Glia maturation factor is a nerve growth factor implicated in nervous system development, angiogenesis and immune function. The structures of mouse glia maturation factors beta and gamma, solved by both crystallography and NMR, reveal similarities and critical differences with ADF-H (actin depolymerization factor homology) domains and suggest new means of experimentally addressing the function of this protein family. Bourgeois et al. (2001) cloned a full-length mouse Gmfb cDNA encoding a deduced 142-amino acid protein that is identical to human GMFB with the exception of 2 amino acids. Northern blot analysis detected expression of a single transcript in heart, brain, spleen, lung, liver, kidney, and testis. No expression was detected in skeletal muscle.