Four And A Half LIM Domains Protein 3 (FHL3)

By searching sequence databases with a partial human SLIM1 (FHL1) cDNA, Morgan and Madgwick (1996) identified partial SLIM2 cDNAs derived from human skeletal muscle. The predicted partial SLIM2 protein contains 4 LIM domains; the cDNAs lacked the sequence encoding the N-terminal region. By Northern blot analysis, SLIM2 is expressed as a 1.6-kb mRNA in human masseter muscle. Using an FHL3 cDNA probe to hybridize with poly(A) RNA of various human tissues, Lee et al. (1998) detected a very strong signal in skeletal muscle, and virtually no signal in heart, brain, placenta, lung, liver, kidney, or pancreas.By Northern blot analysis of mouse tissues, Fimia et al. (2000) determined that Fhl3 was expressed predominantly in skeletal muscle, with low but detectable levels in ovary, spleen, and adrenal gland.