Role of C6ORF120, an N-glycosylated protein, is implicated in apoptosis of CD4⁺ T lymphocytes.

Background: Although CD4(+) T cell apoptosis and CD8(+) T cell responses have been extensively studied during HIV infection, how apoptosis signals being initiated in CD4(+) T cells still need to be elucidated. The present study was designed to characterize the function-unknown gene, C6orf120, and elucidates its primary role in tunicamycin-induced CD4(+) T apoptosis.

Methods: The C6orf120 coding sequence was amplified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) total RNA of AIDS patients.