GLIA MATURATION FACTOR, GAMMA; GMFG

Alternative titles; symbols

• GMF-GAMMA

HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: GMFG

Cytogenetic location: 19q13.2 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38): 19:39,328,358-39,336,042 (from NCBI)

▼ Cloning and Expression
Glia maturation factor-beta (GMFB; 601713) is a 17-kD protein that was initially identified as a growth and differentiation factor acting on neurons and glia in vertebrate brain. By searching an EST database for sequences related to GMFB, Asai et al. (1998) identified cDNAs encoding a protein that they designated GMF-gamma. The predicted 142-amino acid protein is 82% identical to GMF-beta and contains the 3 cysteine residues considered to be crucial for GMF-beta biologic activity. Northern blot analysis revealed that the GMF-gamma gene was expressed as a 0.9-kb mRNA predominantly in lung, heart, and placenta. An additional low-abundance 1.2-kb transcript was detected in heart and skeletal muscle. Independently, Mao et al. (1998) identified a cDNA corresponding to GMF-gamma, which they referred to as a GMF-beta homolog, among a collection of cDNAs expressed in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

▼ Mapping
Peters et al. (1999) stated that the GMFG gene had been mapped to 19q13.2.

▼ Molecular Genetics
Exclusion Studies

Given the putative role of GMF-gamma in cell differentiation and proliferation and its map location in a region that is frequently deleted in human malignant gliomas, Peters et al. (1999) considered it a candidate for a glioma tumor suppressor gene. Peters et al. (1999) determined the genomic structure of the human GMFG gene and performed mutation screening in a series of 41 gliomas with and without allelic loss of chromosome 19q. No mutations were detected.