UFM1 Specific Peptidase 2 (UFSP2)

Like ubiquitin, ubiquitin-fold modifier-1 (UFM1) must be processed by a protease before it can conjugate with its target proteins. UFSP2 is a thiol protease that specifically processes the C terminus of UFM1 .

Kang et al. (2007) identified 2 novel mouse proteases, Ufsp1 and Ufsp2, by using a tagged Ufm1 recombinant and fractionation of proteins that bound to it. The bound proteins were characterized by tandem mass spectrometry to obtain sufficient sequence to perform database searches. Mouse Ufsp2 encodes a deduced 461-amino acid protein with a molecular mass of 46 kD. Northern blot analysis detected a single Ufsp2 transcript in all tissues tested, with significantly higher expression in brain, kidney, stomach, skeletal muscle, and testis.