Ethanolamine kinase catalyzes the first step of phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) biosynthesis via the CDP-Etn pathway.Lykidis et al. (2001) identified 2 splice variants of ETNK2, which they called EKI2-alpha and EKI2-beta.The deduced proteins contain 477 and 394 amino acids, respectively, and are identical in the first 338 amino acids.
Northern blot analysis detected EKI2
transcripts of 3.0 and 2.5 kb in kidney, liver, ovary, testis, and prostate only.expression of mouse Eki2 was restricted to the gonads of both sexes at 10.5 days postcoitum. Expression in ovary was substantially reduced compared with testis at 12.5 days postcoitum and was absent by 13.5 days postcoitum. Expression in testis persisted into adulthood, and the main site of expression was Sertoli cells.