p59OASL, a 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase like protein: a novel human gene related to the 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase family.

The 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetases form a well conserved family of interferon induced proteins, presumably present throughout the mammalian class. Using the Expressed Sequence Tag databases, we have identified a novel member of this family. This protein, which we named p59 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase-like protein (p59OASL), shares a highly conserved N-terminal domain with the known forms of 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetases, but differs completely in its C-terminal part. The C-terminus of p59OASL is formed of two domains of ubiquitin-like sequences. Here we present the characterisation of a full-length cDNA clone, the genomic sequence and the expression pattern of this gene. We have addressed the evolution of the 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase gene family, in the light of both this new member and new 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase sequence data from other species, which have recently appeared in the databases.