Three Prime Repair Exonuclease 2 (TREX2)

The multistep processes of DNA replication, repair, and recombination require the excision of nucleotides from DNA 3-prime termini. Enzymes containing 3-prime-to-5-prime exonuclease activity, such as TREX2, remove mismatched, modified, fragmented, and normal nucleotides to generate the appropriate 3-prime termini for subsequent steps in the DNA metabolic pathways.

TREX2 encodes a protein with 3' exonuclease activity. Enzymes with this activity are involved in DNA replication, repair, and recombination. Similarity to an E. coli protein suggests that this enzyme may be a subunit of DNA polymerase III, which does not have intrinsic exonuclease activity.