The protein encoded by this gene is similar to
oxidoreductases, which are enzymes involved in cellular responses
to oxidative stresses and irradiation. This gene is induced by the
tumor suppressor p53 and is thought to be involved in p53-mediated
cell death. It contains a p53 consensus binding site in its
promoter region and a downstream pentanucleotide microsatellite
sequence. P53 has been shown to transcriptionally activate this
gene by interacting with the downstream pentanucleotide
microsatellite sequence. The microsatellite is polymorphic, with a
varying number of pentanucleotide repeats directly correlated with
the extent of transcriptional activation by p53. It has been
suggested that the microsatellite polymorphism may be associated
with differential susceptibility to cancer. At least two transcript
variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene.
