Figure 3. Optimised AZI1 variant proposed for genetic engineering. Top: schematic image of AZI1 primary protein sequence. The region spanning the 5 putative MAPK phosphorylation sites is highlighted and enlarged. Replacing all or a subset of these residues by phosphomimetic amino acids is expected to improve AZI1 protein stability and to make AZI1 protein function independent of MAPK phosphorylation.