Keratin 18 pseudogene 61 (KRT18P61)

Keratin 18 pseudogene 61 (KRT18P61) is classified as a processed pseudogene related to the type I intermediate filament protein gene keratin 18 (KRT18). It is located on human chromosome 17 (chr17:60810165-60811462, hg38)[8]. Pseudogenes such as KRT18P61 do not contain an intact open reading frame and are considered nonfunctional at the protein level[1][5]. In the human genome, there are at least 77 processed pseudogenes for KRT18 distributed across various chromosomes. These pseudogenes differ from the canonical keratin 18 gene, which codes for a cytoskeletal protein important in epithelial tissue structure and integrity; however, KRT18P61 itself does not have a known biological function, disease association, or pharmacological relevance and is not implicated as a therapeutic or biomarker target[1][5][8][10]. KRT18P61 refers to a locus that arose from duplication and retrotransposition-related processes of the functional KRT18 gene but lacks the capacity to encode a functional keratin protein[1][5]. This is typical for processed pseudogenes, many of which are maintained in the genome without observable physiological roles. This pseudogene should not be confused with KRT18 (keratin 18), which is a structurally and functionally important intermediate filament protein in epithelial cells[3][6].

Other names

KRT18P61