SEC61 Alpha 2 (SEC61a2)

SEC61a2 has similarity to a mouse protein which suggests a role in the insertion of secretory and membrane polypeptides into the endoplasmic reticulum. It may also be required for the assembly of membrane and secretory proteins. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants.

Sec61 complex distributed to both the ER and the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment, but not to the trans-Golgi network. Endogenous Sec61b and Sec61g showed the same distribution. Another translocon component, the glycoprotein Tram was also present in post-ER compartments, suggesting that the core components of the mammalian ER translocon are not permanently resident in the ER, but rather they are maintained in the ER by a specific retrieval mechanism.