Background information
FHOD3 (formin homology 2 domain containing 3), also known as FHOS2 or KIAA1695, is a 1,422 amino acid protein that localizes to both the cytoplasm and the cytoskeleton and contains one DAD domain, one FH1 domain, one FH2 domain and one GBD/FH3 domain. Expressed in brain, heart and kidney, FHOD3 interacts with intermediate filaments and functions as an Actin-organizing protein that is thought to promote the formation of stress fibers in conjunction with cellular elongation. Multiple isoforms of FHOD3 exist due to alternative splicing events. The gene encoding FHOD3 maps to human chromosome 18, which houses over 300 protein-coding genes and contains nearly 76 million bases. There are a variety of diseases associated with defects in chromosome 18-localized genes, some of which include Trisomy 18 (also known as Edwards syndrome), Niemann-Pick disease, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, erythropoietic protoporphyria and follicular lymphomas.