2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase 2 (OAS2)

OAS2 is a member of the 2-5A synthetase family, essential proteins involved in the innate immune response to viral infection. The encoded protein is induced by interferons and uses adenosine triphosphate in 2'-specific nucleotidyl transfer reactions to synthesize 2',5'-oligoadenylates (2-5As). These molecules activate latent RNase L, which results in viral RNA degradation and the inhibition of viral replication. The three known members of this gene family are located in a cluster on chromosome 12. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been described.The predicted OAS2 proteins have a common 683-amino acid sequence and different 3-prime termini. By SDS-PAGE of in vitro transcription/translation products, the authors showed that 2 isoforms have molecular masses of 69 and 71 kD.