EEFSEC
Description
The EEFSEC (eukaryotic elongation factor, selenocysteine-tRNA specific) is a protein-coding gene located on chromosome 3.
EEFSEC, also known as selenocysteine-specific elongation factor, is a translation factor essential for incorporating the rare amino acid selenocysteine into proteins. It replaces the eRF1-eRF3-GTP complex, which normally recognizes UGA codons as stop signals, enabling the insertion of selenocysteine at these codons. This process is facilitated by SECISBP2, which binds to a specific sequence called SECIS in the mRNA, leading to the recruitment of EEFSEC and the delivery of selenocysteinyl-tRNA(Sec) to the ribosome. Once delivered, EEFSEC undergoes conformational changes and releases selenocysteinyl-tRNA(Sec), allowing for peptide bond formation and selenoprotein elongation.
EEFSEC is also known as EFSEC, SELB.