WAP four-disulfide core domain 15B pseudogene (WFDC15B)

WAP four-disulfide core domain 15B pseudogene (WFDC15B, ENSG00000233352) is a human pseudogene related to the WAP four-disulfide core (WFDC) protein family, which comprises secreted proteins characterized by a distinctive pattern of eight cysteine residues forming four disulfide bonds. As a pseudogene, WFDC15B carries sequence similarity to its protein-coding relatives but contains disabling mutations that prevent its translation into a functional protein. Pseudogenes like WFDC15B are genomic sequences that have lost their original protein-coding function; they may arise by duplication and subsequent mutation or by retroposition. WFDC15B does not produce a functional WAP domain-containing protein, and current knowledge does not support any direct role in disease or therapeutic intervention. The function of WFDC15B, if any, would be regulatory at the RNA level, but no such role has been established.

Other names

Wfdc15bSWAM1 pseudogene