JARID2

JARID2

A gene on chromosome 6p24-p23 that encodes an ortholog of the mouse jumonji gene, which encodes a nuclear protein essential for mouse embryogenesis. JARID2 is a regulator of histone methyltransferase complexes that plays an essential role in embryonic development, including heart and liver development, neural tube fusion and haematopoiesis, modulating histone methyltransferase activity and recruiting histone methyltransferase complexes to their target genes; it downregulates cell proliferation signalling pathways. During embryogenesis, it is primarily expressed in neurons, especially in dorsal root ganglion cells. It interacts with GATA4, NKX2-5, RB1, SUZ12 and ZNF496.