Ribosomal Protein L4 (RPL4)

Ribosomes, the organelles that catalyze protein synthesis, consist of a small 40S subunit and a large 60S subunit.

RPL4 encodes a ribosomal protein that is a component of the 60S subunit. The protein belongs to the L4E family of ribosomal proteins. It is located in the cytoplasm. As is typical for genes encoding ribosomal proteins, there are multiple processed pseudogenes of this gene dispersed through the genome.The corresponding mRNA had a very short 5-prime untranslated region initiated by a sequence of 12 pyrimidines characteristic of all vertebrate ribosomal protein mRNAs. Interspecies comparisons demonstrated that the N-terminal region is very conserved and the C-terminal portion highly divergent. The RPL4 protein has 427 amino acids and a calculated molecular mass of 47,821 daltons.