InterPro domain: IPR003994

Ubiquitously expressed transcript protein UXT is involved in gene transcription regulation. It acts in concert with the corepressor URI1 to regulate androgen receptor transcription (AR). It is an AR N terminus-associated coactivator which may play a role in facilitating receptor-induced transcriptional activation [ 1 ].

It is a protein which interacts with the N terminus of the Down's syndrome candidate region 1 (DSCR1) protein, encoded by a gene located in the human chromosome 21. DSCR1 interacts with calcineurin and is overexpressed in Down's syndrome patients. UXT, which is encoded in human Xp11, is a 157-amino acid protein present in both cytosol and nucleus of the cells [ 2 ].

The members of this family are related to prefoldin, which is part of a molecular chaperone system that promotes the correct folding of nascent polypeptide chains. Prefoldin interacts with the nascent chain to stabilise it prior to its folding within the central cavity of a chaperonin. Prefoldin is a hexamer consisting of two types of subunits, alpha and beta. Archaeal prefoldin contains one type of alpha and one type of beta subunit [ 3 ], while eukaryotic prefoldin contains two different but related alpha subunits and four related beta subunits [ 4 ].

1. Identification and characterization of ART-27, a novel coactivator for the androgen receptor N terminus. Mol. Biol. Cell 13, 670-82
2. A calcineurin inhibitory protein overexpressed in Down's syndrome interacts with the product of a ubiquitously expressed transcript. Braz. J. Med. Biol. Res. 37, 785-9
3. Structure of the molecular chaperone prefoldin: unique interaction of multiple coiled coil tentacles with unfolded proteins. Cell 103, 621-32
4. Structure of eukaryotic prefoldin and of its complexes with unfolded actin and the cytosolic chaperonin CCT. EMBO J. 21, 6377-86