Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 12, 2026

ULBP2

UL16 binding protein 2 (ULBP2) is a cell surface glycoprotein encoded by ULBP2 gene located on the chromosome 6. ULBP2 is related to MHC class I molecules, but its gene maps outside the MHC locus. The domain structure of ULBP2 differs significantly from those of conventional MHC class I molecules. It does not contain the α3 domain and the transmembrane segment. ULBP2 is thus composed of only the α1α2 domain which is linked to the cell membrane by the GPI anchor.

Last revised
Jun 12, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
763 w
Citations
12
Source
ULBP2
Identifiers
AliasesULBP2, N2DL2, RAET1H, ALCAN-alpha, NKG2DL2, UL16 binding protein 2, RAET1L
External IDsOMIM: 605698; HomoloGene: 130743; GeneCards: ULBP2; OMA:ULBP2 - orthologs
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez
Ensembl
UniProt
RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_025217

n/a

RefSeq (protein)

NP_079493

n/a

Location (UCSC)Chr 6: 149.94 – 149.95 Mbn/a
PubMed search2n/a
Wikidata
View/Edit Human

UL16 binding protein 2 (ULBP2) is a cell surface glycoprotein encoded by ULBP2 gene located on the chromosome 6.34 ULBP2 is related to MHC class I molecules, but its gene maps outside the MHC locus.34 The domain structure of ULBP2 differs significantly from those of conventional MHC class I molecules. It does not contain the α3 domain and the transmembrane segment. ULBP2 is thus composed of only the α1α2 domain which is linked to the cell membrane by the GPI anchor.34

ULBP2 functions as a stress-induced ligand for the NKG2D killer activation receptor on natural killer cells.54

References

References

  1. GRCh38: Ensembl release 89: ENSG00000131015Ensembl, May 2017
  2. "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  3. Cosman D, Müllberg J, Sutherland CL, Chin W, Armitage R, Fanslow W, Kubin M, Chalupny NJ (Feb 2001). "ULBPs, novel MHC class I-related molecules, bind to CMV glycoprotein UL16 and stimulate NK cytotoxicity through the NKG2D receptor". Immunity. 14 (2): 123–33. doi:10.1016/S1074-7613(01)00095-4. PMID 11239445.
  4. Radosavljevic M, Cuillerier B, Wilson MJ, Clément O, Wicker S, Gilfillan S, Beck S, Trowsdale J, Bahram S (Jan 2002). "A cluster of ten novel MHC class I related genes on human chromosome 6q24.2-q25.3". Genomics. 79 (1): 114–23. doi:10.1006/geno.2001.6673. PMID 11827464.
  5. Song P, Zhao Q, Zou M (2020). "Targeting senescent cells to attenuate cardiovascular disease progression". Ageing Research Reviews. 60 101072. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2020.101072. PMC 7263313. PMID 32298812.
Further reading

Further reading