USP26 is a peptidase enzyme. The USP26 gene is an X-linked gene exclusively expressed in the testis and it codes for the ubiquitin-specific protease 26.[1] The USP26 gene is found at Xq26.2 on the X-chromosome as a single exon. The enzyme that this gene encodes comprises 913 amino acid residues and it is 104 kilodalton in size, which is transcribed from a sequence of 2794 nucleotide base-pairs on the X-chromosome.[2] The USP26 enzyme is a deubiquitinating enzyme that places a very significant role in the regulation of protein turnover during spermatogenesis. It is a testis-specific enzyme that is solely express in spermatogonia and can prevent the degradation of ubiquitinated USP26 substrates.[3]
ubiquitin specific peptidase 26 | |||||||
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Identifiers | |||||||
Symbol | USP26 | ||||||
NCBI gene | 83844 | ||||||
HGNC | 13485 | ||||||
OMIM | 300309 | ||||||
RefSeq | NM_031907 | ||||||
UniProt | Q9BXU7 | ||||||
Other data | |||||||
EC number | 3.1.2.15 | ||||||
Locus | Chr. X q26.2 | ||||||
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Recent research has suggested that defects in USP26 may be involved in some cases of male infertility,[1][4] specifically Sertoli cell-only syndrome, and an absence of sperm in the ejaculate (azoospermia).[5]