Helicase, POLQ-Like Protein (HELQ)

HEL308 is a single-stranded DNA-dependent ATPase and DNA helicase. By homology with the putative helicase portion of Drosophila Mus308, a gene involved in DNA cross-link repair, Marini and Wood (2002) identified ESTs and designed primers that allowed amplification and cloning of human HEL308 from testis and bladder cell line total RNA. Using identical methods, they also cloned the mouse homolog. Human HEL308 encodes a deduced a 1,101-amino acid protein with a molecular mass of 124.5 kD. HEL308 transcript with strong expression in testis, moderate expression in ovary, heart, and skeletal muscle, and weak expression in spleen, thymus, prostate, liver, kidney, and pancreas. In situ hybridization of mouse organs detected Hel308 expressed only in primary spermatocytes in seminiferous tubules of adult testis.