Signal transducer and activator of transcription 2(STAT2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the STAT2 gene. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the STAT protein family. The International Radiation Hybrid Mapping Consortium mapped the STAT2 gene to chromosome 12. STAT2 is a transcription factor critical to the signal transduction pathway of type I interferons. ISGF3(STAT2) assembly involves p48 functioning as an adaptor protein to recruit Stat1 and Stat2 to an IFN-alpha-stimulated response element, Stat2 contributes a potent transactivation domain but is unable to directly contact DNA, while Stat1 stabilizes the heteromeric complex by contacting DNA directly.