Fascin, an echinoid actin-bundling protein, is a homolog of the Drosophila singed gene product

Abstract

A cDNA for fascin, an actin-bundling protein in echinoderms, has been cloned, sequenced, and expressed. The predicted mass of the protein is ≈55 kDa, similar to that observed for fascin purified from sea urchin eggs. Bacterially expressed fascin reacts with antibodies prepared against sea urchin egg fascin. Fascin has a strong sequence similarity to the singed gene (sn) product in Drosophila and has similarities with a 55-kDa human actin-bundling protein. No extensive similarities were found with other known actin-binding/bundling proteins, indicating that this is a separate gene family.