Hemoglobin subunit theta-1 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, res ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''HBQ1''

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 b ...

. Theta-globin mRNA is found in human

fetal A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...

erythroid tissue but not in adult

erythroid Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "hol ...

or other nonerythroid tissue. The theta-1 gene may be expressed very early in embryonic life, perhaps sometime before 5 weeks. Theta-1 is a member of the human alpha-globin gene cluster that involves five functional genes and two pseudogenes. The order of genes is: 5' -

zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

- pseudozeta - mu - pseudoalpha-1 - alpha-2 - alpha-1 - theta-1 - 3'. Research supports a transcriptionally active role for the gene and a functional role for the peptide in specific cells, possibly those of early erythroid tissue.

References

Further reading