Methyl CpG Binding Domain Protein 3 Like Protein 2 (MBD3L2)

By database searching for ESTs encoding proteins with similarity to both MBD2 and MBD3, Jiang et al. (2002) identified 2 clones, which they sequenced and designated MBD3L1 and MBD3L2. MBD3L2 encodes a deduced 204-amino acid protein that shares 42% and 31% sequence identity with MBD3L1 and MBD3, respectively; like MBD3L1, MBD3L2 contains a conserved coiled-coil domain near its C terminus and lacks an MBD domain. MBD3L2 also shares identical sequences identified in MBD3L1 as a transcriptional repression domain. Jiang et al. (2002) also cloned mouse Mbd3l2. Northern blot analysis detected a weak 2.2-kb MBD3L2 band in several human somatic tissues and a stronger 6-kb band in a human ovarian teratocarcinoma cell line and in a mouse embryonal carcinoma cell line.