Heme Binding Protein 2 (HEBP2)

HEBP2 shares sequence and structural similarity with a bacterial transcription factor. Northern blot analysis revealed ubiquitous expression of a 1-kb transcript, with highest levels in heart, skeletal muscle, kidney, and liver, intermediate levels in brain, colon, small intestine, placenta, lung, and peripheral blood leukocytes, and lowest levels in thymus and spleen.

Sequence analysis predicted that the 205-amino acid human SOUL protein, which is 80% identical to the mouse sequence, does not contain a conserved hydrophobic heme-binding region like that found in HBP. Northern blot analysis detected a 1.5-kb Soul transcript in mouse eye. Confocal microscopy demonstrated that expression of mouse Soul is predominantly cytoplasmic with some perinuclear localization.