RBP3 Antibody

Background:

Interphotoreceptor retinol-binding protein is a largeglycoprotein known to bind retinoids and found primarily in theinterphotoreceptor matrix of the retina between the retinal pigmentepithelium and the photoreceptor cells. It is thought to transportretinoids between the retinal pigment epithelium and thephotoreceptors, a critical role in the visual process.The humanIRBP gene is approximately 9.5 kbp in length and consists of fourexons separated by three introns. The introns are 1.6-1.9 kbp long.The gene is transcribed by photoreceptor and retinoblastoma cellsinto an approximately 4.3-kilobase mRNA that is translated andprocessed into a glycosylated protein of 135,000 Da. The amino acidsequence of human IRBP can be divided into four contiguous homologydomains with 33-38% identity, suggesting a series of geneduplication events. In the gene, the boundaries of these domainsare not defined by exon-intron junctions, as might have beenexpected. The first three homology domains and part of the fourthare all encoded by the first large exon, which is 3,180 base pairslong. The remainder of the fourth domain is encoded in the lastthree exons, which are 191, 143, and approximately 740 base pairslong, respectively.