Arginine Fifty Homeobox Protein (ARGFX)

Homeobox genes, such as ARGFX, are characterized by the presence of a conserved DNA sequence, the homeobox, which encodes a DNA-binding domain, the homeodomain.The transcript contains 2 possible initiating ATG codons, and the longest putative protein contains 315 amino acids. RT-PCR detected low expression of ARGFX in human testis and undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. EST database analysis showed ARGFX expressed in 3 human germ cell tumors. No ARGFX orthologs were detected in the mouse genome.ARGFX gene contains 5 exons and spans about 22.7 kb. The first exon is noncoding. Exon 3 is formed from the middle region of an Alu repetitive element.ARGFX gene mapped to chromosome 3q13.33. They identified 2 intronless pseudogenes, on chromosomes 5q23.2 and 17q11.2, generated by the retrotransposition of ARGFX mRNA.