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 four amino acids of the carboxy-terminus
have been cleaved off. Several pseudogenes have been reported for this gene. Alternate transcriptional splice variants encoding different isoforms have been characterized.