Ocular development-associated gene (ODAG), a novel gene highly expressed in ocular development.

Complementary DNA (cDNA) arrays were used to detect highly expressed messenger RNA (mRNA) at postnatal day 2 (P2) and P10 in the mouse eye, and several clones highly expressed at P2 were isolated. We focused among them on a novel gene, the ocular development-associated gene (ODAG), which was down regulated at P10. The expression around birth was subsequently confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Mouse ODAG cDNA encodes a protein of 266 amino acids. Human ODAG cDNA and genomic structure were identified by basic local alignment search tool analysis of the GenBank database with mouse ODAG. Mouse ODAG-specific mRNA expression was detected in various mouse tissues within the eye at P2 and P7, whereas it was not detected anywhere at P14, suggesting that ODAG may play a role in eye development.