Yippee Like Protein 4 (YPEL4)

YPEL4 gene contains 5 exons and spans about 5 kb. Exon 1 is untranslated. The mouse Ypel4 gene has the same structure.The deduced protein shares 99.2% amino acid identity with mouse Ypel4, 100% identity with monkey Ypel4, and 43.4% identity with Drosophila Yippee. YPEL4 shares 83.2 to 85.0% amino acid identity with YPEL1, YPEL2, and YPEL3. All YPEL proteins contain an 86-amino acid YPEL consensus sequence. PCR analysis detected YPEL4 expression in adult brain, lung, placenta, colon, ovary, small intestine, spleen, testis, and bone marrow, and in fetal brain, heart, liver, lung, and spleen. Immunofluorescent staining of COS-7 green monkey kidney cells localized Ypel4 to the centrosome and nucleolus during interphase and at several punctate structures around the mitotic apparatus during the mitotic phase.