C11ORF97

C11ORF97, or Chromosome 11 Open Reading Frame 97, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the C11ORF97 gene. It is hypothesized to localize to the cytoplasm, and plays a role in the ciliary basal body. Based on its protein interactions, it is thought to have a role in Lemierre's Syndrome and Hepatic Coma.

Gene
Human C11ORF97 gene is 19,663 basepairs long including all introns, spanning from position 94,512,461 to 94,532,123. It is found on the long arm of chromosome 11 at 11q21, with a plus strand orientation. Human C11ORF97 has only one known variant.

Expression
Human C11ORF97 expression is seen in many tissues, however, it is mainly seen in the lungs and the brain. According to Human Protein Atlas, the consensus dataset for RNA tissue specificity on C11ORF97 shows six different parts of the brain having some of the highest expression, stating that the enriched groups are brain, choroid plexus, fallopian tube, and lung. According to The Human Protein Atlas, human C11ORF97 RNA tissue specificity was highest in different parts of the brain, as well as the lungs. Although it was high in testes, this is most likely not significant to this gene.

Features
The one variant of C11ORF97 produced in humans is 126 amino acids in length, and a predicted weight of 13.9 kDa. It has an isoelectric point of pH 9.87. It has no transmembrane regions, and no domains of unknown functions. The amino acid composition from SAPS tool shows that there is enriched G and R, and highly lessened S, T, D, and F amino acids.

Subcellular localization
Human C11ORF97 expected localization is in the cytoplasm, with a score of 0.5188, according to DeepLoc. The following tools produced no results when searching for C11ORF97 localization: NetNES, SignalP, TatP, or Human Protein Atlas. A nuclear localization signal, as well as a nuclear export signal was found, suggesting that C11ORF97 most likely has a role in the nucleus, and is then exported to the cytoplasm.

Structure


The tertiary structure was viewed through AlphaFold, i-TASSER and annotated with NCBI's iCN3D tool. These results are shown in the figures to the right, all of them include similar, or near identical features—two alpha helices and no beta sheets.

The C-scores for the 5 i-TASSER models, in order, are -3.59, -4.88, -5.00, -4.47, and -5.00. Thus, the first structure in this figure has the most confidence compared to the other four predicted structures.

Protein-protein interactions
There were only a couple protein-protein interactions found for human C11ORF97, with a medium or higher confidence threshold.

Post-translational modifications
There are many post-translational modifications found in Human C11ORF97, many of which are conserved in orthologs. There are many phosphorylation sites, as well as a SUMOinteraction and sumoylation site, and others. These types post-translational modifications have various functions, and can play a role in cell growth and proliferation. A more detailed description is seen in the illustration to the right.

Homology and evolution
Human C11ORF97 protein is found in vertebrates and invertebrates. It is found in the following vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Human C11ORF97 seems to have first appeared in invertebrates 686 million years ago. All of the comparisons are seen in Table 2 below. An unrooted phylogenetic tree is also provided, showing the predicted likelihood of how the orthologs for this gene are related. Multiple sequence alignments for strict and distant orthologs are also provided as figures. The codes for the 3 letter abbreviations are the same between figures.





Paralogs
There were no paralogs found for human C11ORF97 protein.

Clinical significance/pathology
Based on its protein interactions, it is predicted to have a role in Lemierre's syndrome and hepatic coma. C11ORF97 was also found to be closely related to ciliary movement, seen through multiple published papers. C11ORF97 was also mentioned in a published paper that dealt with the respiratory illnesses, COVID-19.