Tousled Like Kinase 2 (TLK2)

The Tousled-like kinases, first described in Arabidopsis, are nuclear serine/threonine kinases that are potentially involved in the regulation of chromatin assembly.

The deduced 717-amino acid protein has a 5-domain structure, including an N-terminal nuclear localization signal and a single catalytic domain near the C terminus. TLK2 shares 86% sequence identity with TLK1 overall, and 94% identity in the catalytic region. Northern blot analysis detected a 3.5-kb transcript expressed primarily in fetal kidney, liver, heart, and skeletal muscle, and in placenta. Immunofluorescence analysis of transfected COS-1 cells localized TLK2 to the nucleus. The deduced 749-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 85.3 kD.