Expression of a novel human myotonin protein kinase (MtPK) cDNA clone which encodes a protein with a thymopoietin-like domain in COS cells.

A full-length cDNA of human myotonin protein kinase (MtPK) was cloned and expressed in COS-1 cells. MtPK is recovered from the cytosolic fraction of the COS extract as a 70 kDa protein, which coincides with the size deduced from the predicted amino acid sequence. The sequence has a significant homology to thymopoietin, a peptide hormone of the thymus. Biochemical characteristics of MtPK expressed in COS-1 cells and its expression in rat tissues are investigated.