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.,DAP1,GMP1,OFC10,PIC1,SENP2,SMT3,SMT3C,SMT3H3,UBL1,SUMO1,SUMO-1,Epigenetics & Nuclear Signaling,RNA Binding,Cell Biology & Developmental Biology,Autophagy,Ubiquitin,Endocrine & Metabolism,Mitochondrial metabolism,Immunology & Inflammation,IL-6 Receptor Signaling Pathway,NF-kB Signaling Pathway,Cardiovascular,Heart,SUMO1