Four And A Half LIM Domains Protein 1 (FHL1)

FHL1 encodes a member of the four-and-a-half-LIM-only protein family. Family members contain two highly conserved, tandemly arranged, zinc finger domains with four highly conserved cysteines binding a zinc atom in each zinc finger. Expression of these family members occurs in a cell- and tissue-specific mode and these proteins are involved in many cellular processes. Mutations in this gene have been found in patients with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. Multiple alternately spliced transcript variants which encode different protein isoforms have been described.The predicted 280-amino acid protein contains 4 LIM domains and a novel single zinc finger domain in the N-terminal region. By Northern blot analysis, SLIM1 is expressed as a 2.3-kb mRNA in human masseter muscle.