Lysine-specific demethylase 6A also known as Ubiquitously transcribed tetratricopeptide repeat, X chromosome (UTX), is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
which in humans is encoded by the ''KDM6A''
gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
.
It belongs to the
2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent dioxygenase superfamily.
The Y-chromosome version of this gene is called
UTY.
Function
UTX has been linked with
demethylation
Demethylation is the chemical process resulting in the removal of a methyl group (CH3) from a molecule. A common way of demethylation is the replacement of a methyl group by a hydrogen atom, resulting in a net loss of one carbon and two hydrogen at ...
of lysine residues on
histone
In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei and in most Archaeal phyla. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes ...
, in particular H3K27, resulting in a gene de-repression, a potential means of regulating cellular metabolism.
References
Further reading
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Human 2OG oxygenases
EC 1.14.11
{{gene-X-stub