Recombinant SETMAR protein

Recombinant SETMAR (accession number NP_006506.3) was expressed in Sf9 cells and contains an N-terminal FLAG tag with an observed molecular weight of 79 kDa. SETMAR (SET Domain and mariner transposase fusion gene) is a ubiquitously expressed nuclear fusion protein that contains an N-terminal SET domain with histone methyltransferase activity and a C-terminal mariner (MAR) transposase domain that recognizes and binds DNA. The gene exists as a fusion gene only in anthropoid primates; other organisms lack mariner transposase domain. SETMAR binds DNA and functions in DNA repair activities including non-homologous end joining and double strand break repair. The mariner transposase domain recognizes and binds the 19-mer core of the 5'-TIR (terminal inverted repeats) of the Hsmar1 element. The SET domain specifically methylates lysines 4 and 36 of histone H3 which are epigenetic marks associated with transcriptional activation. SETMAR demonstrates in vivo end joining activity and may mediate genomic integration of foreign DNA.