let-268 encodes a procollagen lysyl hydroxylase that processes type IV collagen, a collagen secreted and incorporated into the basement membrane during embryogenesis (and encoded partly by emb-9); LET-268 activity is essential for type IV collagen processing and secretion and for the stability, but not the formation of, the basement membrane that provides mechanical support to body wall muscle once contraction begins; LET-268 also appears to be required for pharyngeal muscle contraction.
Enables UDP-glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase activity. Involved in collagen biosynthetic process and protein glycosylation. Predicted to be located in endoplasmic reticulum. Expressed in GLR and body wall musculature. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome kyphoscoliotic type 1; hepatocellular carcinoma; and lung adenocarcinoma. Is an ortholog of human PLOD1 (procollagen-lysine,2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase 1).