The NNP-1 gene (D21S2056E), which encodes a novel nuclear protein, maps in close proximity to the cystatin B gene within the EPM1 and APECED critical region on 21q22.3.

We have cloned and molecularly characterized a novel human cDNA that encodes a protein of about 52 kDa that was shown by immunocytochemistry to have a nuclear localization. Northern blot analysis of a variety of human tissues revealed that the gene for this novel nuclear protein, designated NNP-1 (HGMW-approved symbol D21S2056E), is ubiquitously expressed as a 2.0-kb transcript. The NNP-1 protein displays significant sequence similarity to the C47E12.7 protein of Caenorhabditis elegans (38% identity and 58% similarity) and the YD78 protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (36% identity and 54% similarity). The human NNP-1 gene was mapped to a 15-kb DNA interval on chromosome 21q22.3, close to markers D21S1459 and D21S1953, that is 25 kb distal to the gene encoding cystatin B. Finally, an as-yet unknown gene that is highly related to NNP-1 was found proximal to the gene encoding cystatin B, near marker D21S1458, which is approximately 75 kb centromeric to the NNP-1 gene.