Taip2 is a novel cell death-related gene expressed in the brain during development

Abstract TAIP2 was isolated as one of the homologous genes of TAIP3 ( T GF-β-up-regulated a poptosis- i nducing- p rotein chromosome 3 ). The transcript of the mouse counterpart of TAIP2 , designated mTaip2 , was detected in several tissue specimens from embryos to adults, while mTaip2 was dominantly expressed in the embryonic brain. The overexpression of the full-length mTaip2 induced cell death in various cell lines. An analysis of mTaip2 deletion mutants revealed that the N-terminal half of mTaip2, but not the C-terminal half, had nuclear localization and cell death-inducing activities. The results indicate that mTaip2 is a novel cell death-related gene dominantly expressed in the embryonic brain, thus suggesting that mTaip2 may play a role in development of the brain.