Abstract
The myelin basic protein (MBP) gene encodes the classic MBPs and the golli proteins, which are related structurally to the MBPs but are not components of the myelin sheath. A yeast two‐hybrid approach was used to identify molecular partners that interact with the golli proteins. A mouse cDNA was cloned that encoded a protein of 261 amino acids and called golli‐interacting protein (GIP). Database analysis revealed that GIP was the murine homolog of human nuclear LIM interactor‐interacting factor (NLI‐IF), a nuclear protein whose function is just beginning to be understood. It is a member of a broad family of molecules, found in species ranging from yeast to human, that contain a common domain of ∼100 amino acids. Immunocytochemical and Northern blot analyses showed co‐expression of GIP and golli in several neural cell lines. GIP and golli also showed a similar developmental pattern of mRNA expression in brain, and immunohistochemical staining of GIP and golli showed co‐expression in several neuronal populations and in oligodendrocytes in the mouse brain. GIP was localized predominantly in nuclei. GIP co‐immunoprecipitated with golli in several in vitro assays as well as from PC12 cells under physiologic conditions. GIP was the first member of this family shown to interact with nuclear LIM interactor (NLI). NLI co‐immunoprecipitated with GIP and golli from lysates of N19 cells transfected with NLI, further confirming an interaction between golli, GIP, and NLI. The ability of GIP to interact with both golli and NLI, and the nuclear co‐localization of GIP and golli in many cells, indicates a role for the golli products of the MBP gene in NLI‐ associated regulation of gene expression. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.