[
J Biomol NMR,
2004]
The Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG) is a pilot project designed to evaluate the feasibility and value of structural genomics. The 21 kDa Caenorhabditis elegans protein coded by gene CE32E8.3 (TrEMBL protein P91127, referred to here as WR33) is one of several hundred targets identified for structural analysis by the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (www.nesg.org). WR33 belongs to a large protein domain family with homologues in several eukaryotic genomes, including those of Homo sapiens (TrEMBL proteins Q9Y326, O94811, and Q9Y6H0), Mus musculis (TrEMBL protein Q9CRB6), and Drosophila melanogaster (TrEMBL protein Q(VV43). The 25 kDa Bos Taurus (bovine) homologue from this family (Q27957), with 38% sequence identity with WR33 over 175 residues, is characterized as 'brain specific protein P25' (Shiratsuchi et al., 1995) and is expressed in oligodendrocytes and neutrophils of bovine brain tissue. However, none of the members of this strongly conserved protein domain family has a characterized biological function.