Prenylcysteine is released during the degradation of prenylated proteins. PCYOX1 catalyzes the degradation of prenylcysteine to yield free cysteines and a hydrophobic isoprenoid product .
The deduced 505-amino acid protein contains a predicted signal sequence, several transmembrane regions, and potential N-glycosylation sites. Northern blot analysis detected a 6-kb transcript in heart, kidney, liver, colon, placenta, skeletal muscle, and pancreas, with low expression in brain and no expression in spleen. The 3-prime untranslated region contains several SINEs, including Alu and MIR sequences. The predicted protein has 506 amino acids. RT-PCR ELISA detected high to moderate expression in all adult and fetal human tissues and all specific brain regions tested.