When cDNA containing proteins enriched in the bovine cerebellar cortex were 
cloned, a clone which seemed to encode a selenoprotein P-like protein was 
isolated. The coding nucleotide sequence of its cDNA insert displayed high 
homology to rat and human selenoprotein P cDNA but contained 12 rather than 10 
TGAs (12 rather than 10 selenocysteines in deduced amino acids), a tandem repeat 
of one CACTCC (His-Ser) and seven CATCCCs (His-Pro), and a 3' untranslated 
region approximately 890 bases shorter than that of rat liver selenoprotein P. 
RT-PCR using a set of primers flanking to the repeat displayed the existence of 
mRNA without the repeat. The tandem repeat and its adjacent region consisted of 
a similar motif of CAC/TCC/AC/T. Thus, these proteins included a (His-Pro) rich 
domain with a slightly negative free energy change irrespective of having the 
tandem repeat or not. Such His-Pro repeats reportedly exist in the segmentation 
gene paired or homeobox protein Om(1D) of Drosophila. Moreover, both this 
selenoprotein P-like protein mRNA and selenoprotein P mRNA were expressed in all 
the areas of the brain but most prominently in the cerebellar cortex, 
hippocampus, and olfactory bulb. These findings suggest the possibility that 
these selenoproteins are major selenium carriers in the brain and play a role in 
the morphological response of nerve or glial cells.