Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2 (eIF2) is an eukaryotic initiation factor. It is required for most forms of eukaryotic translation initiation. eIF2 mediates the binding of tRNA to the ribosome in a GTP-dependent manner. eIF2 is a heterotrimer consisting of an alpha (also called subunit 1, EIF2S1), a beta (subunit 2, EIF2S2), and a gamma (subunit 3, EIF2S3) subunit.
Once the initiation phase has completed, eIF2 is released from the ribosome bound to GDP as an inactive binary complex. To participate in another round of translation initiation, this GDP must be exchanged for GTP.