Ribosomes the organelles that catalyze protein synthesis consist of a small 40S subunit and a large 60S subunit Together these subunits are composed of 4 RNA species and approximately 80 structurally distinct proteins This gene encodes a cytoplasmic ribosomal protein that is a component of the 40S subunit The protein belongs to the S6E family of ribosomal proteins It is the major substrate of protein kinases in the ribosome with subsets of five C-terminal serine residues phosphorylated by different protein kinases Phosphorylation is induced by a wide range of stimuli including growth factors tumor-promoting agents and mitogens Dephosphorylation occurs at growth arrest The protein may contribute to the control of cell growth and proliferation through the selective translation of particular classes of mRNA As is typical for genes encoding ribosomal proteins there are multiple processed pseudogenes of this gene dispersed through the genome