Identification of the adenovirus type 2 C-168 protein

A hitherto predicted but undetected protein, C-168, in adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) has been identified using mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomics. The gene of this 17.7 kDa protein is located on the forward strand in the major late transcription unit between base pairs 9294 and 9797. A tryptic peptide, derived from the C-terminal part of the protein, was identified with high amino acid sequence coverage. A candidate splice site for the corresponding mRNA is also presented. The protein sequence is unusual with repeats of serine, glycine and arginine. A bioinformatics prediction of protein function and localization is presented.