SELENOW, Official Symbol SELENOWprovided by HGNC Official Full Name selenoprotein Wprovided by HGNC Primary source HGNC:HGNC:10752 See related Ensembl:ENSG00000178980 MIM:603235; AllianceGenome:HGNC:10752 Gene type protein coding RefSeq status REVIEWED Organism Homo sapiens Lineage Eukaryota; Metazoa; Chordata; Craniata; Vertebrata; Euteleostomi; Mammalia; Eutheria; Euarchontoglires; Primates; Haplorrhini; Catarrhini; Hominidae; Homo Also known as selW; SEPW1 Summary This gene encodes a selenoprotein containing a selenocysteine (Sec) residue, which is encoded by the UGA codon that normally signals translation termination. The 3' UTRs of selenoprotein mRNAs contain a conserved stem-loop structure, the Sec insertion sequence (SECIS) element that is necessary for the recognition of UGA as a Sec codon rather than as a stop signal. This protein is highly expressed in skeletal muscle, heart and brain. It belongs to the SelWTH family, which possesses a thioredoxin-like fold and a conserved CxxU (C is cysteine, U is Sec) motif, suggesting a redox function for this gene. Studies in mouse show that this selenoprotein is involved in muscle growth and differentiation, and in the protection of neurons from oxidative stress during neuronal development. A retroprocessed pseudogene of this locus has been identified on chromosome 1. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2017] Expression Ubiquitous expression in heart (RPKM 246.5), brain (RPKM 150.5) and 23 other tissues See more Orthologs mouse all