Phosphatidylinositol Glycan Y (PIGY)

PIGY encodes two proteins, one of which is part of the GPI-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (GIP-GnT) complex which initiates the biosynthesis of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI). GPI is synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum and serves as an anchor for many surface proteins. Proteins containing GPI anchors can have an important role in cell-cell interactions. Two open reading frames have been found in the single transcript that has been identified for this gene. The downstream open reading frame encodes the GPI-GnT complex protein while the upstream open reading frame encodes a protein with unknown function.PIGY is a 71-amino acid protein with a molecular mass of 6.5 kD, and contains 2 putative transmembrane domains. PIGY has homologs in mouse, rice, and yeast, with amino acid identities of 79%, 25%, and 22%, respectively.