Peroxisomal Membrane Protein 2 (PXMP2)

PMP22 is a major component of peroxisomal membranes in mammals. It seems to be involved in pore forming activity and may contribute to the unspecific permeability of the organelle membrane. PMP22 is synthesized on free cytosolic ribosomes and then directed to the peroxisome membrane by specific targeting information. Previous studies in rats revealed that PMP22 contains one distinct peroxisomal membrane targeting signal in the amino-terminal cytoplasmic tail. Amino acid sequence alignment of rat and human protein revealed 77% identity including a high conservation of several protein motifs. Human as well as rat PMP22 contains two distinct and nonoverlapping peroxisomal membrane targeting signals, one in the amino-terminal and the other in the carboxyl-terminal protein region.