NASP (gene) explained

Nuclear autoantigenic sperm protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NASP gene.^{[1] [2]} Multiple isoforms are encoded by transcript variants of this gene.

Function

This gene encodes a histone H1 binding protein that is involved in transporting histones into the nucleus of dividing cells.^[3] The somatic form is expressed in all mitotic cells, is localized to the nucleus, and is coupled to the cell cycle. The testicular form is expressed in embryonic tissues, tumor cells, and the testis. In male germ cells, this protein is localized to the cytoplasm of primary spermatocytes, the nucleus of spermatids, and the periacrosomal region of mature spermatozoa.^[2]

Further reading

• Welch JE, Zimmerman LJ, Joseph DR, O'Rand MG . Characterization of a sperm-specific nuclear autoantigenic protein. I. Complete sequence and homology with the Xenopus protein, N1/N2. . Biol. Reprod. . 43 . 4 . 559–68 . 1991 . 2289010 . 10.1095/biolreprod43.4.559 . free .
• Welch JE, O'Rand MG . Characterization of a sperm-specific nuclear autoantigenic protein. II. Expression and localization in the testis. . Biol. Reprod. . 43 . 4 . 569–78 . 1991 . 2289011 . 10.1095/biolreprod43.4.569 . free .
• Kleinschmidt JA, Dingwall C, Maier G, Franke WW . Molecular characterization of a karyophilic, histone-binding protein: cDNA cloning, amino acid sequence and expression of nuclear protein N1/N2 of Xenopus laevis. . EMBO J. . 5 . 13 . 3547–52 . 1987 . 3549279 . 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04681.x. 1167392 .
• Maruyama K, Sugano S . Oligo-capping: a simple method to replace the cap structure of eukaryotic mRNAs with oligoribonucleotides. . Gene . 138 . 1–2 . 171–4 . 1994 . 8125298 . 10.1016/0378-1119(94)90802-8 .
• Lee YH, O'Rand MG . Ultrastructural localization of a nuclear autoantigenic sperm protein in spermatogenic cells and spermatozoa . Anat. Rec. . 236 . 3 . 442–8 . 1993 . 8363049 . 10.1002/ar.1092360304 . 22558475 .
• Batova I, O'Rand MG . Histone-binding domains in a human nuclear autoantigenic sperm protein . Biol. Reprod. . 54 . 6 . 1238–44 . 1996 . 8724350 . 10.1095/biolreprod54.6.1238 . free .
• Suzuki Y, Yoshitomo-Nakagawa K, Maruyama K, etal . Construction and characterization of a full length-enriched and a 5'-end-enriched cDNA library . Gene . 200 . 1–2 . 149–56 . 1997 . 9373149 . 10.1016/S0378-1119(97)00411-3 .
• Richardson RT, Batova IN, Widgren EE, etal . Characterization of the histone H1-binding protein, NASP, as a cell cycle-regulated somatic protein . J. Biol. Chem. . 275 . 39 . 30378–86 . 2000 . 10893414 . 10.1074/jbc.M003781200 . free .
• Batova IN, Richardson RT, Widgren EE, O'Rand MG . Analysis of the autoimmune epitopes on human testicular NASP using recombinant and synthetic peptides . Clin. Exp. Immunol. . 121 . 2 . 201–9 . 2000 . 10931132 . 10.1046/j.1365-2249.2000.01303.x . 1905703 .
• Minami N, Sasaki K, Aizawa A, etal . Analysis of gene expression in mouse 2-cell embryos using fluorescein differential display: comparison of culture environments . Biol. Reprod. . 64 . 1 . 30–5 . 2001 . 11133655 . 10.1095/biolreprod64.1.30 . free .
• Richardson RT, Bencic DC, O'Rand MG . Comparison of mouse and human NASP genes and expression in human transformed and tumor cell lines . Gene . 274 . 1–2 . 67–75 . 2001 . 11674998 . 10.1016/S0378-1119(01)00605-9 .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Alekseev OM, Bencic DC, Richardson RT, etal . Overexpression of the Linker histone-binding protein tNASP affects progression through the cell cycle . J. Biol. Chem. . 278 . 10 . 8846–52 . 2003 . 12509435 . 10.1074/jbc.M210352200 . free .
• Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, etal . Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs . Nat. Genet. . 36 . 1 . 40–5 . 2004 . 14702039 . 10.1038/ng1285 . free .
• Silva AP, Chen J, Carraro DM, etal . Generation of longer 3' cDNA fragments from massively parallel signature sequencing tags . Nucleic Acids Res. . 32 . 12 . e94 . 2004 . 15247327 . 10.1093/nar/gnh095 . 484194 .
• Beausoleil SA, Jedrychowski M, Schwartz D, etal . Large-scale characterization of HeLa cell nuclear phosphoproteins . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 101 . 33 . 12130–5 . 2004 . 15302935 . 10.1073/pnas.0404720101 . 514446 . 2004PNAS..10112130B . free .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA, etal . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 .
• Groth A, Ray-Gallet D, Quivy JP, etal . Human Asf1 regulates the flow of S phase histones during replicational stress . Mol. Cell . 17 . 2 . 301–11 . 2005 . 15664198 . 10.1016/j.molcel.2004.12.018 . free .
• Rual JF, Venkatesan K, Hao T, etal . Towards a proteome-scale map of the human protein-protein interaction network . Nature . 437 . 7062 . 1173–8 . 2005 . 16189514 . 10.1038/nature04209 . 2005Natur.437.1173R . 4427026 .

Notes and References

1. O'Rand MG, Richardson RT, Zimmerman LJ, Widgren EE . Sequence and localization of human NASP: conservation of a Xenopus histone-binding protein . Dev Biol . 154 . 1 . 37–44 . Dec 1992 . 1426632 . 10.1016/0012-1606(92)90045-I .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: NASP nuclear autoantigenic sperm protein (histone-binding).
3. Alekseev OM, Widgren EE, Richardson RT, O'Rand MG . Association of NASP with HSP90 in mouse spermatogenic cells: stimulation of ATPase activity and transport of linker histones into nuclei . J. Biol. Chem. . 280 . 4 . 2904–11 . January 2005 . 15533935 . 10.1074/jbc.M410397200 . free .