Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

PRM2

Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Protamine 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PRM2 gene.

01Function

Protamines substitute for histones in the chromatin of sperm during the haploid phase of spermatogenesis, and are the major DNA-binding proteins in the nucleus of sperm in many vertebrates. They package the sperm DNA into a highly condensed complex in a volume less than 5% of a somatic cell nucleus.

Many mammalian species have only one protamine (protamine 1); however, a few species, including human and mouse, have two. This gene encodes protamine 2, which is cleaved to give rise to a family of protamine 2 peptides. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have also been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2015].

Watch videos about PRM2Explainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article PRM2, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.