Nuclear prelamin A recognition factor, also known as NARF, 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 ...

which in humans is encoded by the ''NARF''

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 ...

Function

Several proteins have been found to be

prenylated Prenylation (also known as isoprenylation or lipidation) is the addition of hydrophobic molecules to a protein or a biomolecule. It is usually assumed that prenyl groups (3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl) facilitate attachment to cell membranes, similar to ...

and

methylated In the chemical sciences, methylation denotes the addition of a methyl group on a substrate, or the substitution of an atom (or group) by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation, with a methyl group replacing a hydrogen atom. These t ...

at their

carboxyl-terminal The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein or polypeptide), terminated by a free carboxyl group (-COOH). When the protein is ...

ends. Prenylation was initially believed to be important only for membrane attachment. However, another role for prenylation appears to be its importance in protein–protein interactions. The only nuclear proteins known to be prenylated in mammalian cells are prelamin A- and B-type

lamins Lamins, also known as nuclear lamins are fibrous proteins in type V intermediate filaments, providing structural function and transcriptional regulation in the cell nucleus. Nuclear lamins interact with inner nuclear membrane proteins to form the ...

. Prelamin A is farnesylated and carboxymethylated on the

cysteine Cysteine (symbol Cys or C; ) is a semiessential proteinogenic amino acid with the formula . The thiol side chain in cysteine often participates in enzymatic reactions as a nucleophile. When present as a deprotonated catalytic residue, sometime ...

residue of a carboxyl-terminal CaaX motif. This post-translationally modified cysteine residue is removed from prelamin A when it is endoproteolytically processed into mature lamin A. The protein encoded by this gene binds to the prenylated prelamin A carboxyl-terminal tail domain. It may be a component of a prelamin A endoprotease complex. The encoded protein is located in the

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...

, where it partially colocalizes with the nuclear lamina. It shares limited sequence similarity with iron-only bacterial

hydrogenase A hydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyses the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen (H2), as shown below: Hydrogen uptake () is coupled to the reduction of electron acceptors such as oxygen, nitrate, sulfate, carbon dioxide (), and fumara ...

s. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different

isoforms A protein isoform, or "protein variant", is a member of a set of highly similar proteins that originate from a single gene or gene family and are the result of genetic differences. While many perform the same or similar biological roles, some isof ...

have been identified for this gene, including one with a novel

exon An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequen ...

that is generated by RNA editing.

Interactions

NARF has been shown to interact with

LMNA Pre-lamin A/C or lamin A/C is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''LMNA'' gene. Lamin A/C belongs to the lamin family of proteins. Function In the setting of ZMPSTE24 deficiency, the final step of lamin processing does not occur, res ...

Function

Interactions

References

Further reading