FAST Kinase Domains Protein 2 (FASTKD2)

FASTKD2 consists of 694 amino acid residues starting from M17, instead of the potentially translatable 710 residues. A potential cleavage site exists between residues M52 and Q53 and predicts the mature imported protein from the FASTKD2 precursor to be composed of 642 amino acids with a molecular weight of 73 kD. Immunofluorescence assays demonstrated that FASTKD2 protein is imported into the inner mitochondrial membrane. PCR of mouse tissues showed Fastkd2 to be expressed ubiquitously, most strongly in skeletal muscle. In staurosporine-induced apoptosis experiments, decreased nuclear fragmentation was detected in treated mutant versus control fibroblasts, suggesting a specific role of FASTKD2 in the regulation of mitochondrial apoptosis.