Evolutionary features and intracellular behavior of the PRTB protein.

Human PRTB encodes a proline-rich protein of 168 amino acids (PRTB). We analyzed the evolutionary patterns of PRTB from various vertebrate species. Maximum likelihood analyses indicated that while mammalian PRTB has been very well conserved and underwent a significantly slower rate of evolution, only the branch leading to fish PRTB has undergone adaptive evolution.

An evolutionarily conserved leucine-rich repeat protein CLERC is a centrosomal protein required for spindle pole integrity.

The centrosome functions as the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC) and plays a vital role in organizing spindle poles during mitosis. The pair of centrioles, which are the core components of the centrosome, duplicate once per cell cycle, and this feature is essential for the establishment of spindle bipolarity. Here we describe the molecular characterization of a novel protein called CLERC (Centrosomal leucine-rich repeat and coiled-coil containing protein) which is a human ortholog of Chlamydomonas Vfl1 protein.