Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 2B3 (EIF2B3)

EIF2B3 is one of the subunits of initiation factor eIF2B, which catalyzes the exchange of eukaryotic initiation factor 2-bound GDP for GTP. It has also been found to function as a cofactor of hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation. Mutations in this gene have been associated with leukodystrophy with vanishing white matter. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.

The 5-prime untranslated region of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is highly conserved in all strains and folds into an IRES that binds directly to 40S ribosome subunits. Among the relatively limited number of cellular cofactors binding to the HCV IRES/40S subunit is EIF2.