biology

TMEM125

TMEM125 is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand TMEM125 rather than just read about it. In short: Transmembrane protein 125 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the TMEM125 gene. It has 4 transmembrane domains and is expressed in the lungs, thyroid, pancreas, intestines, spinal cord, and brain.

Key takeaways

TMEM125 belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect TMEM125 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of TMEM125 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Transmembrane protein 125 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the TMEM125 gene. It has 4 transmembrane domains and is expressed in the lungs, thyroid, pancreas, intestines, spinal cord, and brain. Though its function is currently poorly understood by the scientific community, research indicates it may be involved in colorectal and lung cancer networks. Additionally, it was identified as a cell adhesion molecule in oligodendrocytes, suggesting it may play a role in neuron myelination.

Gene The TMEM125 gene has no aliases, except for its encoded protein’s name. Its cytogenic location is at 1p34.2 on the plus strand and it spans from bases 43,272,723 to 43,273,379. TMEM125 comprises four exons.

Gene-level regulation Five TMEM125 promoters were identified by Genomatix Gene2Promoter. The primary promoter (NM_001320244) is 1881 bp in length. It consists of binding sites for fork head domain factors and zinc finger transcription factors.

Transcript TMEM125 has two variant transcripts that differ only in the 5' untranslated region (UTR), but both encode the same protein. mRNA variant 1 represents the longer of the two variants and is 1898 base pairs (bp) in length; variant 2 is 1797 bp long.

Transcript-level regulation TMEM125 microarray-assessed expression patterns in normal human tissue demonstrate the primary tissues of expression are the pancreas, lungs, salivary glands, trachea, brain, prostate, spinal cord, and thyroid. Additionally, RNA-seq data illustrates transcript expression in the following additional tissue: colon, small intestines, prostate, and stomach.

Protein

Predicted structure

TMEM125 comprises 219 amino acids with four transmembrane domains. Its predicted isoelectric point is 8.32 and predicted molecular weight is 22.1 kDa. It is primarily leucine-rich, and secondarily alanine- and glycine-rich; TMEM125 is also arginine- and lysine-deficient. It has two core repeat blocks, VALL and TTSS, which both appear twice within the protein. The secondary structure of TMEM125 is predicted to consist of α-helices and small segments of β-sheets.

The tertiary structure and topology of TMEM125 was predicted and visualized through Phyre2.

Post-translational modifications and localization TMEM125 has 1 predicted phosphorylation site (CK2 Phos), 5 predicted N-myristoylation sites (N-myr), 2 predicted palmitoylation sites (Pal), and 1 predicted amidation site (Amid). It also contains the domain of unknown function 66 (DUF66). TMEM125 is predicted to be subcellularly localized in the plasma membrane. It is secondarily predicted to be localized in the endoplasmic reticulum.

Protein interactions There were no scientifically-verified protein interactions identified for TMEM125. String Protein Interaction predicted 10 functional protein partners for TMEM125, but all were determined through textmining.

Homology/evolution

TMEM125 is conserved in species as distantly related to humans as cartilaginous fish, that’s most recent common ancestor to humans existed 465 million years ago. TMEM125 is highly conserved in primates, mammals, birds, reptiles, bony fish, and cartilaginous fish, but is not observed in invertebrates. TMEM125 does not have any paralogs.

Clinical significance In a topological transcriptome analysis, researchers profiled important proteins of the non-small cell lung cancer regulatory network and determined that TMEM125 exhibited different topological characteristics across cancerous and normal conditions, suggesting its criticality in lung cancer networks. This is consistent with post-translational modification analysis; TMEM125 phosphorylation suggests it may be involved in a signal transduction pathway or as a receptor protein. Additionally, its myristoylation sites suggests its involvement in signal transduction, apoptosis, and alternative extracellular protein export. TMEM125 was identified as a tetraspanin cell adhesion molecule enriched in oligodendrocytes, suggesting it may play a role in myelination. Additionally, its expression was not observed in differentiating oligodendrocytes in vitro, but was detected in oligodendrocytes from treated rat brains, which suggests its expression is regulated by the presence of axons.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with TMEM125

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what TMEM125 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to TMEM125 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about TMEM125 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of TMEM125

In research: TMEM125 appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses TMEM125 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: TMEM125 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Proteins, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for TMEM125 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study TMEM125 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what TMEM125 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain TMEM125 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is TMEM125 in simple terms?

Why does TMEM125 matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study TMEM125?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on TMEM125.