Eukaryotic Translation Elongation Factor 1 Alpha 2 (EEF1a2)

EEF1a2 is an isoform of the alpha subunit of the elongation factor-1 complex, which is responsible for the enzymatic delivery of aminoacyl tRNAs to the ribosome. This isoform (alpha 2) is expressed in brain, heart and skeletal muscle, and the other isoform (alpha 1) is expressed in brain, placenta, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas. This gene may be critical in the development of ovarian cancer.EF1-alpha is distributed widely, although expression is very low or undetectable in skeletal and cardiac muscle postnatally, and expression in the brain declines between embryonic life and adulthood in rats. EF1-alpha-2 is found exclusively in terminally differentiated cells of skeletal muscle, heart, and certain areas of the brain. In those tissues where both genes are expressed, Eef1a2 is consistently more highly expressed than Eef1a.