Alternative titles; symbols
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: FAU
Cytogenetic location: 11q13.1 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38): 11:65,120,630-65,122,134 (from NCBI)
The FAU gene is the cellular homolog of the fox sequence in the Finkel-Biskis-Reilly murine sarcoma virus (FBR-MuSV) (summary by Kas et al., 1992).
Kas et al. (1992) cloned and sequenced the human FAU gene. Its name is derived from 'FBR-MuSV associated ubiquitously expressed gene.' FAU encodes a fusion protein consisting of 133 amino acids. The 59 amino acids at the carboxy terminus encode the ribosomal protein S30, part of the small ribosomal subunit. The amino-terminal part of FAU (74 amino acids) shows strong homology to ubiquitin, a 76-amino acid multifunctional cellular protein.
Kas et al. (1993) used a cosmid clone containing the human FAU gene for fluorescence in situ hybridization to localize the gene to 11q13. The localization was confirmed by hybridization against a panel of somatic cell hybrids containing different parts of chromosome 11 on a hamster background. FAU was then further mapped, both on a panel of radiation-reduced somatic cell hybrids designed to carry different parts of the 11q13 region and by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. This fine mapping placed FAU close to the PYGM gene (608455) in a region that contains oncogenes as well as the putative tumor suppressor genes MEN1 (613733) and ST3 (191181).
By linkage mapping, Casteels et al. (1995) assigned the Fau gene to mouse chromosome 19.
Courseaux et al. (1996) used a combination of methods to refine maps of the approximately 5-Mb region of 11q13 that includes MEN1 (613733). They proposed the following gene order: cen--PGA--FTH1--UGB--AHNAK--ROM1--MDU1--CHRM1--COX8--EMK1--FKBP2--PLCB3--[PYGM, ZFM1]--FAU--CAPN1--[MLK3, RELA]--FOSL1--SEA--CFL1--tel.
Kapranov et al. (2010) demonstrated that human cells contain a novel type of short RNA (sRNA) with a nongenomically encoded 5-prime poly(U) tail. They proposed that the presence of these RNAs at the termini of genes, specifically at the very 3-prime ends of known mRNAs, such as that for FAU, strongly argues for the presence of a yet uncharacterized endogenous biochemical pathway in cells that can copy RNA. Kapranov et al. (2010) showed that this pathway can operate on multiple genes, with specific enrichment toward transcript-encoding components of the translational machinery. They also showed that genes are also flanked by sense, 3-prime polyadenylated sRNAs that are likely to be capped.
Casteels, D., Poirier, C., Guenet, J.-L., Merregaert, J. The mouse Fau gene: genomic structure, chromosomal localization, and characterization of two retropseudogenes. Genomics 25: 291-294, 1995. [PubMed: 7774934] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/0888-7543(95)80140-h]
Courseaux, A., Grosgeorge, J., Gaudray, P., Pannett, A. A. J., Forbes, S. A., Williamson, C., Bassett, D., Thakker, R. V., Teh, B. T., Farnebo, F., Shepherd, J., Skogseid, B., Larsson, C., Giraud, S., Zhang, C. X., Salandre, J., Calender, A. Definition of the minimal MEN1 candidate area based on a 5-Mb integrated map of proximal 11q13. Genomics 37: 354-365, 1996. [PubMed: 8938448]
Kapranov, P., Ozsolak, F., Kim, S. W., Foissac, S., Lipson, D., Hart, C., Roels, S., Borel, C., Antonarakis, S. E., Monaghan, A. P., John, B., Milos, P. M. New class of gene-termini-associated human RNAs suggests a novel RNA copying mechanism. Nature 466: 642-646, 2010. [PubMed: 20671709] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09190]
Kas, K., Michiels, L., Merregaert, J. Genomic structure and expression of the human fau gene: encoding the ribosomal protein S30 fused to a ubiquitin-like protein. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 187: 927-933, 1992. [PubMed: 1326960] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-291x(92)91286-y]
Kas, K., Schoenmakers, E., van de Ven, W., Weber, G., Nordenskjold, M., Michiels, L., Merregaert, J., Larsson, C. Assignment of the human FAU gene to a subregion of chromosome 11q13. Genomics 17: 387-392, 1993. [PubMed: 8406491] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1006/geno.1993.1337]