Degradation of glycine is brought about by the glycine cleavage system, which is composed of four mitochondrial protein components: P protein (a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent glycine decarboxylase), H protein (a lipoic acid-containing protein), T protein (a tetrahydrofolate-requiring enzyme), and L protein (a lipoamide dehydrogenase). The protein encoded by this gene is the P protein, which binds to glycine and enables the methylamine group from glycine to be transferred to the T protein. Defects in this gene are a cause of nonketotic hyperglycinemia (NKH).
