NK2 Homeobox Protein 8 (NKX2-8)

The predicted 239-amino acid NKX2.8 protein is basic with a calculated pI of 9.6. NKX2.8 contains the characteristic homeobox and conserved peptide of nk2-related proteins. In vitro translated NKX2.8 protein migrated as an approximately 34-kD polypeptide by SDS-PAGE. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses revealed that NKX2.8 is expressed as a 1.6-kb mRNA in fetal but not adult liver and in 3 cell lines with phenotypes that resemble those of fetal liver. NKX2.8 gene contains a single intron. The open reading frame has an unusually high GC content of 71%.The sequence of NKX2.8 is most similar to that of Nkx2-9 in the mouse, and stated that the 2 genes are orthologous. The NKX2-2 and NKX2-8 genes are collectively orthologous to Drosophila vnd and comprise the Nk2.2 gene family.