Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2A (eIF2A) is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''EIF2A''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
.
The eIF2A protein is not to be confused with
eIF2α, a subunit of the heterotrimeric
eIF2
Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2 (eIF2) is an eukaryotic initiation factor. It is required for most forms of eukaryotic translation initiation. eIF2 mediates the binding of tRNAiMet to the ribosome in a GTP-dependent manner. eIF2 is a heterotrimer c ...
complex. Instead, eIF2A functions by a separate mechanism in
eukaryotic translation
Eukaryotic translation is the biological process by which messenger RNA is translated into proteins in eukaryotes. It consists of four phases: gene translation, elongation, termination, and recapping.
Initiation
Translation initiation is the pr ...
.
Function
eIF2A is a 65 kDa protein that catalyzes the formation of puromycin-sensitive 80S preinitiation complexes (Zoll et al., 2002).
upplied by OMIMref name="entrez"> It may be important for translation initiation mediated by the
HCV IRES
The Hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site, or HCV IRES, is an RNA structure within the 5'UTR of the HCV genome that mediates cap-independent translation initiation.
Protein translation of most eukaryotic mRNAs occurs by a cap-dependen ...
under stress conditions, but this result has been debated.
References
Further reading
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