GCLC


Glutamate—cysteine ligase catalytic subunit is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GCLC gene.

Function

Glutamate-cysteine ligase, also known as gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase is the first rate limiting enzyme of glutathione synthesis. The enzyme consists of two subunits, a heavy catalytic subunit and a light regulatory subunit. The gene encoding the catalytic subunit encodes a protein of 367 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 72.773 kDa and maps to chromosome 6. The regulatory subunit is derived from a different gene located on chromosome 1p22-p21. Deficiency of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase in human is associated with enzymopathic hemolytic anemia.

Model organisms

s have been used in the study of GCLC function. A conditional knockout mouse line, called Gclctm1aWtsi was generated as part of the International Knockout Mouse Consortium program — a high-throughput mutagenesis project to generate and distribute animal models of disease to interested scientists — at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
Male and female animals underwent a standardized phenotypic screen to determine the effects of deletion. Twenty four tests were carried out on mutant mice, however no significant abnormalities were observed.