Glycoprotein hormones, alpha polypeptide 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, respon ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''CGA''
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 ...
.
The
gonadotropin hormones,
human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG),
luteinizing hormone (LH),
follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and
thyroid-stimulating hormone
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (also known as thyrotropin, thyrotropic hormone, or abbreviated TSH) is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine (T4), and then triiodothyronine (T3) which stimulates the metabolis ...
(TSH) are
heterodimers consisting of alpha and beta subunits (also called chains) that are associated
non-covalently. The alpha subunits of these four human
glycoprotein hormones are identical; however, their beta chains are unique and confer biological specificity. The protein encoded by this gene is the alpha subunit and belongs to the glycoprotein hormones alpha chain family.
References
Further reading
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