Cloning and expression of ARMC3_v2, a novel splicing variant of human ARMC3 gene

ARM genes, whose polypeptide consist of Armadillo/beta-catenin-like repeats (ARM) domain(s), exist ubiquitously from flies to vertebrates. These genes have multiple functions in signal transduction, development, cell adhesion and mobility, tumor initiation and metastasis. In this study, we have isolated a 2439-bp novel splicing variant of ARMC3 from the human fetal brain, encoding a 688-amino acid polypeptide that contains three typical ARM domains. The cDNA named ARMC3_v2 and the original named ARMC3_v1 (GenBank: BC039312) are both located on the human chromosome 10p12.23. RT-PCR analysis in our work showed that ARMC3_v2 was detected in human skeletal muscle, liver, spleen and thymus; in contrast, ARMC3_v1 in skeletal muscle, lung, prostate and testis.