Description
Product Characteristics:
This endogenous retroviral envelope protein has retained its original fusogenic properties and participates in trophoblast fusion and the formation of a syncytium during placenta morphogenesis. May induce fusion through binding of SLC1A4 and SLC1A5 (PubMed:10708449, PubMed:12050356, PubMed:23492904). Endogenous envelope proteins may have kept, lost or modified their original function during evolution. Retroviral envelope proteins mediate receptor recognition and membrane fusion during early infection. The surface protein (SU) mediates receptor recognition, while the transmembrane protein (TM) acts as a class I viral fusion protein. The protein may have at least 3 conformational states: pre-fusion native state, pre-hairpin intermediate state, and post-fusion hairpin state. During viral and target cell membrane fusion, the coiled coil regions (heptad repeats) assume a trimer-of-hairpins structure, positioning the fusion peptide in close proximity to the C-terminal region of the ectodomain. The formation of this structure appears to drive apposition and subsequent fusion of membranes.
Subcellular location: Cell membrane, Extracellular matrix
Synonyms: ENV, ENVW, HERVW, ERVWE1, HERV7Q, HERV-7q, HERVWENV, HERV-W-ENV, Syncytin-1, Endogenous retrovirus group W member 1, Env-W, Envelope polyprotein gPr73, Enverin, HERV-7q Envelope protein, HERV-W envelope protein, HERV-W_7q21.2 provirus ancestral Env polyprotein, Syncytin, ERVW-1
Target Information: 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 a mouse endogenous retrovirus provirus on chromosome 5 that has inactivating mutations in the gag and pol genes. This gene is the envelope glycoprotein gene which appears to have been selectively preserved. The gene's protein product plays a major role in placental development and trophoblast fusion. The protein has the characteristics of a typical retroviral envelope protein, including a cleavage site that separates the surface (SU) and transmembrane (TM) proteins which form a heterodimer. [provided by RefSeq, Apr 2015]