AIM2 and melanoma: Functions have been described for several of the genes in mice, with Ifi202 and Ifi204 of particular interest for bone biology because they have been shown to support chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation, respectively.(25,26) Aim2 was thought originally to be a tumor-suppressor gene associated with human melanoma(27) and breast cancer cells.(28) More recently, Aim2 has been considered to be a protein that recognizes and binds to cytosolic dsDNA, forming a capase-1-activating complex that leads to apoptosis of the cell.(29) Aim 2 has 12 exons that encode for a protein of 354 aa.