About Betacellulin:
The Betacellulin protein is encoded by the BTC gene on chromosome 4 at locus 4q13-q21 in humans. It is a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) protein family. It promotes the secretion of insulin and pancreatic cell proliferation, plus retinal vascular permeability. There is a possible association between type 2 diabetes and mutations of the gene. Another disease associated with BTC is squamous cell carcinoma. BTC was first found in mice but was subsequently discovered in humans too. Betacellulin is used in stem cell research because it induces neural stem cell proliferation. It is a mitogen for retinal pigment epithelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells.
BTC binds and activates ErbB-1 and ErbB-4 homodimers. Another special thing to recognize is its particular ability to activate all possible heterodimeric ErbB receptors. BTC can be found in most tissues and various body fluids, including milk. In particular, it is highly present in the pancreas. It is thought that BTC plays a role in the differentiation of pancreatic β cells. BTC was first noticed as a growth-promoting factor in mouse pancreatic β-cell carcinoma cell line. Mouse BTC (mBTC) is expressed as a 178-amino acid precursor. In humans, BTC has about 62-111 amino acid residues.
Molecular functions of BTC include epidermal growth factor receptor binding, growth factor activity, Phosphatidylinositol-4, 5-bisphosphate 3-kinase activity, protein tyrosine kinase activity and Ras guanyl-nucleotide exchange factor activity. Biological processes linked to BTC include negative regulation of apoptotic process, negative regulation of ERBB signalling pathway, phosphatidylinositol-mediated signalling, positive regulation of cell differentiation, and positive regulation of cell division. Other processes are positive regulation of cell proliferation, positive regulation of fibroblast proliferation, positive regulation of mitotic nuclear division, positive regulation of urine volume, regulation of cell motility and regulation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling.
Betacellulin has been tested as part of gene therapy with neurogenin 3 to measure its effect on metabolic problems in diabetic mice and could help to reverse major issues. It could help to reduce gluten intolerance. Plus, it has been shown to promote retinal vascular permeability, which is also useful for diabetes treatment as type 2 diabetes can cause vision loss due to diabetic maculopathy. Mouse models have shown that BTC can result in accentuated retinal vascular permeability in mice with diabetes. There have also been studies showing that BTC regulates hair follicle development and regulates epidermal homeostasis too.
Betacellulin Human Recombinant produced in E.Coli is a single, non-glycosylated, polypeptide chain. It has 80 amino acids and a molecular mass of 9 kDa. The Betacellulin Human Recombinant that we sell is purified using proprietary chromatographic techniques. In addition to human BTC, it is also available as a bovine or mouse cytokine, both of which are also produced in E. Coli. The human BTC we provide is a sterile freeze-dried powder, with instructions for reconstituting for laboratory use. It is shipped at room temperature and stable at room temperature for up to 3 weeks but should be stored at colder temperatures to preserve it (at -18 degrees Celsius).