Genomic organization and characterization of human PEX2 encoding a 35-kDa peroxisomal membrane protein

Peroxins are proteins involved in peroxisome biogenesis and are encoded by PEX genes. The human PEX2 gene encodes a 35-kDa peroxisomal integral membra ne protein which is a member of the zinc finger protein family. Mutations i n the PEX2 gene are the primary defect in a subset of patients with Zellweg er syndrome and related peroxisome biogenesis disorders. The role of zinc f inger proteins in peroxisome assembly and function is poorly understood. He re we report the cloning and characterisation of the human PEX2 structural gene. PEX2 was assigned to human chromosome 8q13-q21 and its murine homolog ue to mouse chromosome 3, The gene is approximately 17.5 kb in length, and contains four exons, The entire coding sequence is included in one exon, ex on 4. The 5'-flanking region has features of housekeeping genes (GC enrichm ent, two Sp1 sites) and tissue-specific, inducible genes (two CCAAT boxes), In more than 1.5 kb of 5'-flanking sequences we did not identify consensus peroxisomal proliferator responsive elements (PPRE). (C) 2000 Academic Pre ss.