Brain Expressed Protein, X-Linked 5 (BEX5)

From a database search to map BEX gene family members, Alvarez et al. (2005) identified and sequenced a human EST clone with high similarity to BEX3 (NGFRAP1). This clone represented a novel BEX family member, which the authors designated BEX5. Using a multiple human tissue array containing RNA from 75 human adult and fetal tissues and cancer cell lines, Alvarez et al. (2005) found that BEX5 is widely expressed at low levels, with highest expression in liver. Using immunofluorescence to detect an epitope-tagged protein, Alvarez et al. (2005) found that BEX5 has a predominantly cytoplasmic location in HEK 293T cells. The presence of a nuclear export signal was confirmed by the observation that leptomycin B, which inhibits the Crm1-mediated leucine-rich nuclear export, leads to BEX5 expression in nucleus as well as cytoplasm.