Many different endogenous retrovirus families are expressed in normal placental tissue at high levels, suggesting that endogenous retroviruses are functionally important in reproduction. This gene is part of an endogenous retrovirus provirus that has placenta specific expression. The protein encoded has the characteristics of a retroviral envelope protein but is truncated and lacks the transmembrane domain. The protein inhibits cell fusion by competing with syncytin-1 for binding to a cell receptor. [provided by RefSeq, May 2015]
Description
Novel transcript
Tissue specificity
Tissue enriched (placenta)
Predicted location
Intracellular, Secreted in female reproductive system
Bone marrow & Lymphoid tissuesBrainBreast and female reproductive systemConnective & Soft tissueEndocrine tissuesEyeGastrointestinal tractKidney & Urinary bladderLiver & GallbladderLymphoidMale reproductive systemMuscle tissuesMyeloidPancreasProximal digestive tractRespiratory systemSkin
* nTPM: Normalized TPM levels represent consensus gene expression calculated using two data sets. Read more RNA data & Protein structure sourced from Human Protein Atlas.