2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase 1 is an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''OAS1''

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 ...

. This gene encodes a member of the

2-5A synthetase In molecular biology, 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (2-5A synthetase) is an enzyme () that reacts to interferon signal. It is an antiviral enzyme that counteracts virus, viral attack by degrading RNAs, both viral and host. The enzyme uses Adenosi ...

family, which include essential proteins involved in the

innate immune response The innate, or nonspecific, immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies (the other being the adaptive immune system) in vertebrates. The innate immune system is an older evolutionary defense strategy, relatively speaking, and is the ...

to viral infection. The encoded protein is induced by

interferon Interferons (IFNs, ) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten the ...

s and uses

adenosine triphosphate Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is an organic compound that provides energy to drive many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, condensate dissolution, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms of ...

in 2'-specific nucleotidyl transfer reactions to synthesize 2',5'-oligoadenylates (2-5As). These molecules activate latent

RNase L Ribonuclease L or RNase L (for ''latent''), known sometimes as ribonuclease 4 or 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase-dependent ribonuclease — is an interferon (IFN)-induced ribonuclease which, upon activation, destroys all RNA within the cell (bot ...

, which results in both viral and endogenous

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...

degradation and the inhibition of viral replication. The three known members of this gene family are located in a cluster on

chromosome 12 Chromosome 12 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 12 spans about 133 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and represents between 4 and 4.5 percent of the to ...

. Hypomorphic mutations in this gene have been associated with host susceptibility to viral infection, while gain-of-function variants can cause

autoinflammatory Periodic fever syndromes are a set of disorders characterized by recurrent episodes of systemic and organ-specific inflammation. Unlike autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, in which the disease is caused by abnormalities of ...

immunodeficiency. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been described.

References

Further reading