XRN2 (D6L5F) Rabbit mAb #13760

5'-3' exoribonuclease 2 (XRN2) is a nuclear exonuclease that degrades RNA containing a 5’-monophosphate to component mononucleotides. XRN2 also plays an important role in the termination of transcription at the 3’-end of genes by displacing RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) from the DNA strand (1,2). According to the ‘torpedo’ model of transcription termination, XRN2 gains access to the 5’ phosphate of the nascent RNA during co-transcriptional polyadenylation site cleavage. XRN2 degrades RNA at a faster rate than RNAPII-mediated RNA synthesis, resulting in the eviction of RNAPII from the template (3-5). In addition, XRN2 is essential for maturation of 5.8S and 28S ribosomal RNA and small nucleolar RNA molecules (2). Several research studies suggest that XRN2 plays a role in the quality control check of RNA molecules. XRN2 co-transcriptionally degrades aberrant nuclear mRNA transcripts that result from defective 5’mRNA capping, splicing, or 3’end formation (6). XRN2 exonuclease rapidly degrades hypomodified tRNA and excess miRNA molecules, indicating that XRN2 likely regulates tRNA and miRNA quality control as well (7-9).