Identification of another member of the transforming growth factor type β gene family

Abstract

We report here the complete amino acid sequence of another member of the type β transforming growth factor gene family, deduced from the nucleotide sequence of three overlapping cDNA clones. The C-terminal 112 amino acids share ~80% sequence identity with type β1 and β2 transforming growth factors, with many of the remaining differences being conservative substitutions. By analogy to type β1 and type β2 transforming growth factors, we predict the protein to be synthesized as a 412 amino acid precursor that undergoes proteolytic cleavage to produce the mature polypeptide.