A novel cDNA with homology to an RNA polymerase II elongation factor maps to human chromosome 5q31 (TCEB1L) and to mouse chromosome 11 (Tceb1l).

Few of the auxiliary factors that assist RNA polymerase II in the process of mRNA chain elongation have been identified. We have isolated a novel cDNA, Tceb1l, from mouse and human sources that encodes a 163-amino-acid protein and shows a significant level of identity with a recently identified RNA polymerase II transcription elongation factor, p15. Tceb1l is highly conserved throughout vertebrates and maps to mouse chromosome 11 and to the syntenic region of human chromosome 5q31. Tceb1l shows a restricted pattern of expression in the early mouse embryo, where it is absent from the neurectoderm; later Tceb1l is expressed in the caudal region of the neural tube, followed by widespread expression in many tissues, including the brain and spinal cord. These observations are consistent with Tceb1l being an RNA polymerase II elongation factor and suggest that Tceb1l/p15-like peptides may be a new family of proteins that influence RNA elongation.