Dihydrouridine Synthase 2 Like Protein (DUS2L)

The deduced 493-amino acid protein contains an N-terminal DUS domain and a C-terminal double-strand RNA-binding motif. Human DUS2 shares about 90% amino acid identity with its rodent homologs and 39% identity with S. cerevisiae Dus2. Northern blot analysis detected a 2.3-kb transcript in human heart, placenta, and skeletal muscle. High expression of a 3.0-kb DUS2 transcript was detected only in testis. The 2.3-kb transcript was expressed in several lung cancer cell lines at much higher levels than in normal lung tissue. Semiquantitative RT-PCR detected DUS2 upregulation in almost all NSCLC cases and cell lines examined, but it was hardly detectable in small airway epithelial cells grown from normal bronchial epithelium. Immunocytochemical analysis localized DUS2 to the endoplasmic reticulum in lung carcinoma cells.