PTENP1

PTENP1 is a processed pseudogene of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN in humans. It is transcribed into RNA but does not encode a functional protein. The PTENP1 transcript shares extensive sequence similarity with PTEN, including regions that allow it to interact with the same microRNAs that regulate PTEN.

Biological role is thought to be as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA). By binding shared microRNAs, PTENP1 can sequester these microRNAs and reduce their repression of PTEN, thereby helping to maintain PTEN expression after transcription. This ceRNA activity links PTENP1 levels to PTEN signaling and cellular processes influenced by PTEN, such as cell growth and survival.

Evolutionarily, PTENP1 arose as a processed pseudogene through retrotransposition of PTEN mRNA and is typically intronless. In humans, PTENP1 transcripts are expressed in various tissues, and alterations in PTENP1 copy number or expression have been observed in several cancers. Such changes can influence PTEN signaling and tumorigenesis, making PTENP1 of interest as a potential biomarker and a participant in PTEN-related regulatory networks.