Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase phosphorylates the inositol ring of phosphatidylinositol at the 3-prime position. The enzyme comprises a 110 kD catalytic subunit and a regulatory subunit of either 85, 55, or 50 kD. PIK3R1 encodes the 85 kD regulatory subunit. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase plays an important role in the metabolic actions of insulin, and a mutation in PIK3R1 has been associated with insulin resistance. Alternative splicing of PIK3R1 results in four transcript variants encoding different isoforms.