PiggyBac Transposable Element Derived Protein 2 (PGBD2)

The piggyBac family of proteins, found in diverse animals, are transposases related to the transposase of the canonical piggyBac transposon from the moth, Trichoplusia ni. This family also includes genes in several genomes, including human, that appear to have been derived from the piggyBac transposons. PGBD2 belongs to the subfamily of piggyBac transposable element derived (PGBD) genes. The PGBD proteins appear to be novel, with no obvious relationship to other transposases, or other known protein families. The exact function of this gene is not known. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. PGBD2 consists largely of a single long coding exon, with one intron near the extreme N-terminus and another in the 5¢ UTR, while PGBD3 has a single ORF and a 5¢ UTR intron.