Isolation, characterization and chromosomal localization of human WNT10B.

The Wnt family constitutes a set of structurally related glycoproteins that have been implicated in oncogenesis and developmental processes. The vertebrate Wnt10 family includes mouse, Xenopus and salamander proteins. We undertook a bioinformatics based approach to characterize a novel human Wnt gene. The gene (WNT10B) encodes a 389-amino acid protein with 96.6% sequence identity to mouse Wnt10b. The expression pattern of WNT10B reveals that it is synthesized in many adult tissues with the highest levels found in heart and skeletal muscle. WNT10B expression was also detected in several human cancer cell lines with elevated mRNA levels observed in HeLa (cervical cancer) cells. WNT10B was localized to 12q13.1 by PCR typing of a human/rodent monochromosomal panel and fluorescent in situ hybridization.