Expression of testis specific ankyrin repeat and SOCS box-containing 17 gene.

Human ASB-17 (Ankyrin Repeat and SOCS Box-containing 17) is a recently identified gene belonging to the ASB family, isolated from testis cDNA library. Human ASB-17 is expressed exclusively in testis among 16 tissues, revealed by Northern blot. Mouse Asb-17 was shown to be expressed from the third week post birth to adult by semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. In situ hybridization on frozen sections demonstrated that Asb-17 is expressed in spermatogenic cells in adult mouse, but not in Leydig cell and epididymis in adult mouse. ASB-17 proteins are highly conserved in mammals including human, mouse, rat, Canis familiaris and Macaca fascicularis.