SEPW1 explained

Selenoprotein W is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SEPW1 gene.^{[1] [2]}

Function

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. This protein shows highest expression in skeletal muscle and heart, and may be involved in oxidation-reduction reactions. A retroprocessed pseudogene, SEPW1P, has been identified and mapped to chromosome 1p35-34.

Further reading

• Whanger PD . Selenoprotein W: a review . Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences . 57 . 13–14 . 1846–52 . December 2000 . 11215511 . 10.1007/PL00000666 . 11147157 .
• Yeh JY, Beilstein MA, Andrews JS, Whanger PD . Tissue distribution and influence of selenium status on levels of selenoprotein W . FASEB Journal . 9 . 5 . 392–6 . March 1995 . 7896009 . 10.1096/fasebj.9.5.7896009. free . 20754227 .
• Smith JS, Tachibana I, Pohl U, Lee HK, Thanarajasingam U, Portier BP, Ueki K, Ramaswamy S, Billings SJ, Mohrenweiser HW, Louis DN, Jenkins RB . A transcript map of the chromosome 19q-arm glioma tumor suppressor region . Genomics . 64 . 1 . 44–50 . February 2000 . 10708517 . 10.1006/geno.1999.6101 .
• Kryukov GV, Castellano S, Novoselov SV, Lobanov AV, Zehtab O, Guigó R, Gladyshev VN . Characterization of mammalian selenoproteomes . Science . 300 . 5624 . 1439–43 . May 2003 . 12775843 . 10.1126/science.1083516 . 2003Sci...300.1439K . 10363908 .
• Bellingham J, Gregory-Evans K, Fox MF, Gregory-Evans CY . Gene structure and tissue expression of human selenoprotein W, SEPW1, and identification of a retroprocessed pseudogene, SEPW1P . Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Gene Structure and Expression . 1627 . 2–3 . 140–6 . June 2003 . 12818432 . 10.1016/s0167-4781(03)00078-2 .
• Pagmantidis V, Bermano G, Villette S, Broom I, Arthur J, Hesketh J . Effects of Se-depletion on glutathione peroxidase and selenoprotein W gene expression in the colon . FEBS Letters . 579 . 3 . 792–6 . January 2005 . 15670848 . 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.12.042 . 389992 . free . 2005FEBSL.579..792P .
• Kim YJ, Chai YG, Ryu JC . Selenoprotein W as molecular target of methylmercury in human neuronal cells is down-regulated by GSH depletion . Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications . 330 . 4 . 1095–102 . May 2005 . 15823556 . 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.03.080 .

Notes and References

1. Gu QP, Beilstein MA, Vendeland SC, Lugade A, Ream W, Whanger PD . Conserved features of selenocysteine insertion sequence (SECIS) elements in selenoprotein W cDNAs from five species . Gene . 193 . 2 . 187–96 . July 1997 . 9256076 . 10.1016/S0378-1119(97)00113-3 .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: SEPW1 selenoprotein W, 1.