DEAD Box Polypeptide 42 (DDX42)

DDX42 encodes a member of the Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp (DEAD) box protein family. Members of this protein family are putative RNA helicases, and are implicated in a number of cellular processes involving alteration of RNA secondary structure such as translation initiation, nuclear and mitochondrial splicing, and ribosome and spliceosome assembly.

The deduced 709-amino acid protein contains an N-terminal ATP-binding domain, followed by a DEAD box helicase domain and a C-terminal RNA-binding domain. RHELP shares 42% amino acid identity with p68 (DDX5). Northern blot analysis detected a transcript of about 3.3 kb in all tissues and cell lines examined, with highest expression in brain, lung, thymus, pancreatic islets, and HeLa cells.