Mice carrying a retroviral insert in both alleles of the Mpv17 gene develop glomerulosclerosis and nephrotic syndrome at young age. Thus, the Mpv17 gene is a recessive disease gene in mice and this mouse strain is a potential animal model for glomerular diseases in man. We here describe the isolation and analysis of a human homolog of this gene. By interspecies hybridisation cDNA clones representing a single RNA species were isolated from human liver. Sequence analysis revealed over 90% identify in a region coding for a protein of 176 amino acids and unknown function in both species. Cloning of the genomic locus revealed a single copy gene which we mapped to the short arm of chromosome 2 at band 2p23-p21. Determination of the intron-exon structure and the junction sequences enabled us to establish a PCR based procedure to isolate the coding region from human genomic DNA. Thus, it is now possible to analyse patients suffering from candidate diseases on the basis of a blood sample if biopsy material is not available.