Jumonji, AT Rich Interactive Domain Protein 2 (JARID2)

JARID2 is an ortholog of the mouse jumonji gene, which encodes a nuclear protein essential for mouse embryogenesis, including neural tube formation. Overexpression of mouse jumonji negatively regulates cell proliferation. The jumonji proteins contain a DNA-binding domain, called an AT-rich interaction domain (ARID), and share regions of similarity with human retinoblastoma-binding protein-2 and the human SMCX protein.the human jumonji (JMJ) and mouse Jmj gene products are 90% identical. Northern blot analysis revealed a low level of expression of JMJ in all human embryonic and adult tissues analyzed. In situ hybridization studies on embryonic slices revealed high levels of expression in dorsal root ganglia neurons. The authors detected high levels of expression in adult cerebral cortex.