Ribosomal Protein S21 (RPS21)

Ribosomes, the organelles that catalyze protein synthesis, consist of a small 40S subunit and a large 60S subunit. Together these subunits are composed of 4 RNA species and approximately 80 structurally distinct proteins.

RPS21 encodes a ribosomal protein that is a component of the 40S subunit. The protein belongs to the S21E family of ribosomal proteins. It is located in the cytoplasm. Alternative splice variants that encode different protein isoforms have been described, but their existence has not been verified. As is typical for genes encoding ribosomal proteins, there are multiple processed pseudogenes of this gene dispersed through the genome.The deduced primary sequence of the 83-amino acid RPS21 protein differed from the rat Rps21 sequence by only 4 amino acids.