Malic Enzyme 3, NADP+ Dependent, Mitochondrial (ME3)

The deduced 604-amino acid human ME3 protein has a putative N-terminal mitochondrial leader peptide and 2 regions that are highly conserved among human MEs, namely a putative malate-binding domain and a possible cofactor-binding domain, which contains a consensus sequence of an ADP-binding beta-alpha-beta fold. ME3 shares 71% amino acid sequence identity with ME1 and 55% identity with ME2.

Northern blot analysis of human tissues detected an approximately 2.2-kb ME3 transcript that was expressed at high levels in heart, skeletal muscle, brain, colon, kidney, pancreas, and ovary, at lower levels in small intestine, lung, and testis, and at minimal levels in lung, thymus, and spleen; expression was not observed in liver, peripheral blood leukocytes, or placenta.