Acetyl Coenzyme A Acetyltransferase 2 (ACAT2)

ACAT2 is an enzyme involved in lipid metabolism, and it encodes cytosolic acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase. This gene shows complementary overlapping with the 3-prime region of the TCP1 gene in both mouse and human. These genes are encoded on opposite strands of DNA, as well as in opposite transcriptional orientation.As the human TCP1 gene had been assigned to 6q25-q27 by study of somatic cell hybrids and by in situ hybridization, the ACAT2 gene was suspected to be localized to the same chromosome region. Retention of this close linkage during mammalian evolution suggests the possibility of some functional significance. Transcription of both DNA strands at a given locus is common in prokaryotic and viral systems. For examples of overlapping transcriptional units in humans.