Lymphocyte Antigen 6 Complex, Locus Protein G6E (LY6G6E)

LY6G6E belongs to a cluster of leukocyte antigen-6 (LY6) genes located in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class III region on chromosome 6. Members of the LY6 superfamily typically contain 70 to 80 amino acids, including 8 to 10 cysteines. Most LY6 proteins are attached to the cell surface by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor that is directly involved in signal transduction.By genomic sequence analysis, Mallya et al. (2002) identified LY6G6E. The predicted protein contains an N-terminal signal peptide, followed by a cys-rich LY6 domain and a C-terminal hydrophobic region. EST database searching and RT-PCR analysis showed no expression of the expected 378-bp product, suggesting that LY6G6E may be a pseudogene.