Inteins
Synonyms
Intein
Intervening Protein Sequence
Intervening Protein Sequences
Intron, Protein
Introns, Protein
Protein Intron
Protein Introns
Protein Sequence, Intervening
Protein Sequences, Intervening
Sequence, Intervening Protein
Sequences, Intervening Protein
The internal fragments of precursor proteins (INternal proTEINS) that are autocatalytically removed by PROTEIN SPLICING. The flanking fragments (EXTEINS) are ligated forming mature proteins. The nucleic acid sequences coding for inteins are considered to be MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS. Inteins are composed of self-splicing domains and an endonuclease domain which plays a role in the spread of the intein's genomic sequence. Mini-inteins are composed of the self-splicing domains only.