This gene encodes a protein that is a member of the SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) protein family. It functions in a manner similar to ubiquitin in that it is bound to target proteins as part of a post-translational modification system. However, unlike ubiquitin which targets proteins for degradation, this protein is involved in a variety of cellular processes, such as nuclear transport, transcriptional regulation, apoptosis, and protein stability. It is not active until the last two amino acids of the carboxy-terminus have been cleaved off. Numerous pseudogenes have been reported for this gene. Alternate transcriptional splice variants, encoding different isoforms, have been characterized. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008],HSMT3, SMT3B, SMT3H2, SUMO3, Smt3A,Cell Biology & Developmental Biology,Endocrine & Metabolism,IL-6 Receptor Signaling Pathway,Immunology & Inflammation,Mitochondrial metabolism,NF-kB Signaling Pathway,Ubiquitin,SUMO2