Family With Sequence Similarity 3, Member D (FAM3D)

By searching an EST database for sequences similar to FAM3A, followed by RT-PCR of placenta mRNA, Zhu et al. (2002) cloned FAM3D. The deduced 224-amino acid protein contains an N-terminal signal peptide. The authors predicted that FAM3D forms a 4-helix bundle, and 3-dimensional modeling indicated that 4 cysteines could form 2 disulfide bonds linking helices 1 and 4 and helices 2 and 3. Northern blot analysis detected FAM3D expression at a high level in placenta and at a lower level in small intestine.The International Radiation Hybrid Mapping Consortium mapped the FAM3D gene to chromosome 3 .