We use cookies to enhance the usability of our website. If you continue, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies. More information. Don't show this again.
During the initiation of protein biosynthesis, initiation factor-2 (IF-2) promotes the binding of the initiator tRNA to the small subunit of the ribosome in a GTP-dependent manner. Prokaryotic IF-2 is a single polypeptide, while eukaryotic cytoplasmic IF-2 (eIF-2) is a trimeric protein. Bovine liver mitochondria contain IF-2(mt), an 85-kD monomeric protein that is equivalent to prokaryotic IF-2. The predicted 727-amino acid human protein contains a 29-amino acid presequence. Human IF-2(mt) shares 32 to 38% amino acid sequence identity with yeast IF-2(mt) and several prokaryotic IF-2s, with the greatest degree of conservation in the G domains of the proteins. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]