CR6: A third member in the MyD118 and Gadd45 gene family which functions in negative growth control.

MyD118 and Gadd45 are two related genes which encode for proteins that play important roles in negative growth control, including both growth suppression and apoptosis. A strategy was employed to clone new members of the MyD118 and Gadd45 family of genes. Based on alignment of the deduced amino acid sequences, one cDNA clone was found to encode for the murine homologue of human CR6, originally cloned as an IL-2 immediate-early response gene. The murine and human CR6 proteins were observed to be 97% identical, indicating that CR6 is an evolutionarily conserved protein. Analysis of CR6 expression during hematopoietic cell development associated with growth arrest and apoptotic cell death, upon exposure of hematopoietic cells to a variety of growth arrest and apoptotic stimuli, and in a variety of murine tissues, has revealed that CR6 expression differs significantly from the expression of the related MyD118 and Gadd45 genes. Nevertheless, CR6, like MyD118 and Gadd45, suppressed colony formation of human lung carcinoma H1299 cells. These data suggest that CR6 plays similar, but not identical, roles to MyD118 and Gadd45 in negative control of cell growth.