Glutamate—cysteine ligase catalytic subunit is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GCLC gene. Glutamate-cysteine ligase, also known as gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase is the first rate limiting enzyme of glutathione synthesis. The enzyme consists of two subunits, a heavy catalytic subunit and a light regulatory subunit. The gene encoding the catalytic subunit encodes a protein of 367 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 72.773 kDa and maps to chromosome 6. The regulatory subunit is derived from a different gene located on chromosome 1p22-p21. Deficiency of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase in human is associated with enzymopathic hemolytic anemia.
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