THO Complex Subunit 2 (THOC2)

THO2 is part of the TREX (transcription/export) complex, which includes TEX1, HPR1, ALY , and UAP56.By SDS-PAGE analysis of a 180-kD protein from nuclear extracts that interacted in pull-down assays with UAP56, followed by database searching and PCR screening of a HeLa cell cDNA library, Strasser et al. (2002) obtained a full-length cDNA encoding THO2. The predicted protein contains 1,479 amino acids and is conserved from yeast to humans.

Functional studies in yeast led Strasser et al. (2002) to conclude that the TREX complex is specifically recruited to the transcribing gene and travels with the polymerase during transcriptional elongation. They suggested that it physically links proteins that function in mRNA export or transcription.