Tigger Transposable Element Derived Protein 4 (TIGD4)

TIGD4 belongs to the tigger subfamily of the pogo superfamily of DNA-mediated transposons in humans. These proteins are related to DNA transposons found in fungi and nematodes, and more distantly to the Tc1 and mariner transposases. They are also very similar to the major mammalian centromere protein B. The exact function of this gene is not known. Like CENP-B, JRK and other pogo-derived genes seem to be restricted to mammals. Based on the current data, the only 2 exceptions appear to be TIGD4 and TIGD5. Weidentified an ortholog of TIGD4 in A. carolinensis and an ortholog of TIGD5 in X. tropicalis and chicken. Thus, TIGD4 and TIGD5 are the only 2 mammalian pogo-derived genes found in other vertebrates. TIGD3, TIGD4, and TIGD6 seem most closely related to CENP-B, and, like CENP-B, they are widely distributed and highly conserved in mammals.