Molecular cloning of cDNAs encoding lamp A, a human lysosomal membrane glycoprotein with apparent Mr approximately equal to 120,000.

Although several lysosomal membrane glycoproteins have been characterized by using specific antibodies, none of the studies so far elucidated the amino acid sequence of a lysosomal membrane glycoprotein. Here we describe cDNA clones encoding for one of the lysosome-associated membrane proteins with apparent Mr approximately equal to 120,000, lamp A. The amino acid sequence based on the fully coded cDNA shows that as many as 18 potential N-glycosylation sites can be found in the total of 385 amino acid residues. The results obtained by endoglycosidase F digestion support the conclusion that this glycoprotein contains 18 N-glycans. These N-glycosylation sites are clustered in two domains; one contains 10 and the other contains 8 N-glycosylation sites. These domains are separated by a (proline-serine)-rich region that has a distinct homology to the IgA hinge structure. The first N-glycosylated domain is elongated to a potential leader peptide toward the NH2-terminal end. The second N-glycosylated domain, on the other hand, is connected to a putative transmembrane portion consisting of hydrophobic amino acids. This segment, in turn, is elongated to a short cytoplasmic segment composed of 11 amino acid residues at the COOH-terminal end.