This gene encodes a selenoprotein, which contains a selenocysteine (Sec) residue at its active site. The selenocysteine is encoded by the UGA codon that normally signals translation termination. The 3' UTR of selenoprotein genes have a common stem-loop structure, the sec insertion sequence (SECIS), that is necessary for the recognition of UGA as a Sec codon rather than as a stop signal. The exact function of this gene is not known, however, selenoproteins are thought to be responsible for most biomedical effects of dietary selenium. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Function:
May be involved in a redox-related process.
Similarity:
Belongs to the SelWTH family.
SWISS:
Q8IZQ5
Gene ID:
280636
Database links:
Entrez Gene: 280636 Human
Entrez Gene: 72657 Mouse
Entrez Gene: 502642 Rat
Omim: 607914 Human
SwissProt: Q8IZQ5 Human
SwissProt: Q3UQA7 Mouse
Unigene: 655373 Human
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