Golgin A6 (GOLGA6)

GOLGA6 encodes a member of the golgin family of proteins, which localize to the Golgi complex .The deduced 693-amino acid GOLGA6 protein has a predicted molecular mass of 75 kD and a highly hydrophilic structure including 8 leucine zipper motifs. It contains multiple predicted phosphorylation sites: 14 for casein kinase II, 7 for protein kinase C, and 1 for cAMP. GOLGA6 shares approximately 50% sequence homology with golgin-95 (GOLGA2) and golgin-67. Northern blot analysis detected testis-specific expression of 6-kb and 2.4-kb transcripts, the latter corresponding to a splice variant excluding exon 18.

GOLGA6 is expressed exclusively within the seminiferous tubules at specific stages of germ cell differentiation; expression was absent in spermatogonia, weak in late pachytene spermatocytes, and strong in spermatids.