Seroatlas · Human Serome Atlas

RPL38

Large ribosomal subunit protein eL38

Also known as: L38, RL38_HUMAN

Cross-references: UniProt · Ensembl · Human Protein Atlas · GeneCards · NCBI Gene

Protein identityUniProt · HPA

UniProt accession
P63173
Gene
RPL38
Ensembl
ENSG00000172809
Chromosome
17
Canonical length
70 aa
Protein class
Predicted intracellular proteins, Ribosomal proteins
Subcellular location
Endoplasmic reticulum,Cytosol

OverviewNCBI Gene

Ribosomes, the organelles that catalyze protein synthesis, consist of a small 40S subunit and a large 60S subunit. Together these subunits are composed of 4 RNA species and approximately 80 structurally distinct proteins. This gene encodes a ribosomal protein that is a component of the 60S subunit. The protein belongs to the L38E family of ribosomal proteins. It is located in the cytoplasm. Alternative splice variants have been identified, both encoding the same protein. As is typical for genes encoding ribosomal proteins, there are multiple processed pseudogenes of this gene dispersed through the genome, including one located in the promoter region of the type 1 angiotensin II receptor gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]

Canonical amino-acid sequenceUniProt

70 residues, UniProt reviewed canonical sequence.

>P63173|RPL38
     1  MPRKIEEIKD FLLTARRKDA KSVKIKKNKD NVKFKVRCSR YLYTLVITDK EKAEKLKQSL
    61  PPGLAVKELK

LocalizationUniProt · AlphaFold · HPA

Whether an antibody against RPL38 can act on the native protein depends on physical access: surface and secreted proteins are reachable by circulating antibodies, intracellular proteins usually are not.

Antibody reachability
Intracellular
Secreted
No
Transmembrane segments
0
Mean surface accessibility (rSASA)
0.35
Highest tissue expression
3,091 nTPM

Expression across tissuesHPA

Tissue

  • ovary: 3,091 nTPM
  • skeletal muscle: 2,772 nTPM
  • pancreas: 1,914 nTPM
  • spinal cord: 1,907 nTPM
  • skin: 1,880 nTPM
  • amygdala: 1,836 nTPM

Single-cell type

  • late spermatids: 4,975 nCPM
  • ovarian stromal cells: 4,640 nCPM
  • extravillous trophoblasts: 3,143 nCPM
  • esophageal suprabasal cells: 2,981 nCPM
  • epididymal efferent duct absorptive cells: 2,935 nCPM
  • enteric stem cells: 2,918 nCPM

Immune cell

  • total PBMC: 4,487 nTPM
  • naive CD4 T-cell: 3,444 nTPM
  • memory CD4 T-cell: 3,087 nTPM
  • naive CD8 T-cell: 3,050 nTPM
  • memory B-cell: 2,919 nTPM
  • naive B-cell: 2,787 nTPM

Brain region

  • white matter: 749 nTPM
  • cerebral cortex: 645 nTPM
  • thalamus: 643 nTPM
  • spinal cord: 636 nTPM
  • medulla oblongata: 610 nTPM
  • hypothalamus: 593 nTPM

Genetic constraint and essentialitygnomAD · DepMap

Does the body need this protein intact? Low LOEUF or a strong DepMap dependency means loss or blockade of the protein is likely to be felt.

gnomAD LOEUF (loss-of-function intolerance)
0.52
gnomAD pLI
0.83
gnomAD missense Z
1.69
DepMap mean gene effect
-1.69
DepMap dependency class
pan

Cancer expressionTCGA

Across TCGA tumor cohorts, this protein is over-expressed in roughly 6% of surveyed tumor types (aggregate summary; per-cohort expression, alteration, and survival load in the interactive view).

OntologyGO

Biological processes

Molecular functions

Cellular components

Protein domainsUniProt · Pfam · InterPro

  • Large ribosomal subunit protein eL38
  • Large ribosomal subunit protein eL38 superfamily
  • Ribosomal L38e protein family

KeywordsUniProt

InteractionsUniProt · HPA

Protein binding partners of RPL38 in the human serome: UniProt-annotated complex subunits plus reported interactors. Each links to its own Seroatlas record.

Antibody and autoantibody relevanceSeroatlas analysis

Seroatlas reads RPL38 as an antibody target. Whether an autoantibody or antibody against RPL38 could matter depends on whether native RPL38 is physically reachable, whether the body needs it intact, and whether it acts in a disease-relevant tissue.

RPL38 is annotated as predominantly intracellular. Intracellular proteins are common autoantibody markers, becoming visible to the immune system after cell injury or altered processing, but are usually markers of disease rather than direct drivers.

Annotation status

The present source text does not explicitly label RPL38 as an autoantigen. Seroatlas presents hypothesis context only and does not manufacture a known-serology claim.

Canonical record: https://seroatlas.com/gene/RPL38. Study-independent annotations aggregated from UniProt, Human Protein Atlas, PubMed, IEDB, Pfam, InterPro, Gene Ontology, AlphaFold, gnomAD, DepMap, ClinVar, TCGA. Catalog release seroatlas-reviewed-human-uniprot-20260313.

Seroatlas is the reference for exploring autoantibody and antibody serology at the human-protein level: the autoreactome and human serome, multiplex serology (HuProt, HuScan, VirScan, PhIP-Seq).

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