Species Human Entrez 2877 | Human Mouse Ensembl ENSG00000176153 | |
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Aliases GPX2, GI-GPx, GPRP, GPRP-2, GPx-2, GPx-GI, GSHPX-GI, GSHPx-2, glutathione peroxidase 2 External IDs MGI: 106609 HomoloGene: 20479 GeneCards: GPX2 | ||
Glutathione peroxidase 2 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GPX2 gene.
This gene is a member of the glutathione peroxidase family encoding a selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase that is one of two isoenzymes responsible for the majority of the glutathione-dependent hydrogen peroxide-reducing activity in the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract. Studies in knockout mice indicate that mRNA expression levels respond to luminal microflora, suggesting a role of the ileal glutathione peroxidases in preventing inflammation in the GI tract.
The antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase 2 (Gpx2) is one out of eight known glutathione peroxidases (Gpx1-8) in humans. Mammalian Gpx1, GPx2 (this protein), Gpx3, and Gpx4 have been shown to be selenium-containing enzymes, whereas Gpx6 is a selenoprotein in humans with cysteine-containing homologues in rodents. In selenoproteins, the 21st amino acid selenocysteine is inserted in the nascent polypeptide chain during the process of translational recoding of the UGA stop codon.