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Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) is a 17 kD transcriptional coactivator that plays a significant role in the regulation of genes involved in inflammation and cell survival. It regulates many transcription factors including nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and plays a key role in hepatocarcinogenesis. rHBx facilitates the binding of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) to its responsive element. rHBx stabilizes the cellular coactivator ASC-2 through direct protein-protein interaction, affecting the regulation of genes actively transcribed in liver cancer cells. HBx transactivates both JNK and MAPK signal transduction pathways in association with the mobilization of cytosolic Ca2+. The communication between HBx and general transcription factor TFIIB is also one of the mechanisms which account for its transcriptional transactivation. HBx decreased the expression of PTEN a known tumor suppressor and a negative regulator of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase/AKT and HBx decreased the expression of PTEN in HBx-transfected cells. The etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is involved with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and HBx in particular plays a role in the development of HBV-related HCC. The persistence of HBx is important to the pathogenesis of early HCC and HBx expression in the liver during chronic HBV infection may be an important prognostic marker for the development of HCC.

GH is a member of the somatotropin/prolactin family of hormones which play an important role in growth control. The gene, along with four other related genes, is located at the growth hormone locus on chromosome 17 where they are interspersed in the same transcriptional orientation; an arrangement which is thought to have evolved by a series of gene duplications. The five genes share a remarkably high degree of sequence identity. Alternative splicing generates additional isoforms of each of the five growth hormones, leading to further diversity and potential for specialization. This particular family member is expressed in the pituitary but not in placental tissue as is the case for the other four genes in the growth hormone locus. Mutations in or deletions of the gene lead to growth hormone deficiency and short stature.

Thyroglobulin (TG) represents one of the main autoantigenic targets in autoimmune thyroid disease of humans. TG is a large globular dimeric glycoprotein with a total molecular weight of 660 kDa, which occupies a key precursor role in the biosynthesis of the thyroid hormones. Approximately 75% of the total protein content of the thyroid follicle consists of TG. The thyroid gland uses the Thyroglobulin in order to produce the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroglobulin is produced by the thyroid epithelial cells (thyrocytes) which form spherical follicles. Thyroglobulin is subsequently secreted and stored in the follicular lumen.
Patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis or Graves' disease, frequently develop antibodies against Thyroglobulin. Tg-specific antibodies help in the diagnosis of the above diseases, however they also may be present in apparently healthy euthyroid individuals. Blood Thyroglobulin levels can be used as a tumor marker for certain kinds of thyroid cancer, and the may also be elevated in cases of Graves' disease.

Enteropeptidase or enterokinase is an enzymeinvolved in human digestion. It is produced by cells in the duodenum wall, and is secreted from duodenum's glands, the crypts of Lieberk?hn, whenever ingested food enters the duodenum from the stomach. Enteropeptidase has the critical job of turning trypsinogen(a zymogen) to trypsin, indirectly activating a number of pancreaticdigestive enzymes.
Enteropeptidase is a serine proteaseenzyme(EC3.4.21.9). Enteropeptidase is a part of the Chymotrypsin-clan of serine proteases, and is structurally similar to these proteins.

NT3 a member of the neurotrophin family, that controls survival and differentiation of mammalian neurons. This protein is closely related to both nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. It may be involved in the maintenance of the adult nervous system, and may affect development of neurons in the embryo when it is expressed in human placenta. NTF3-deficient mice generated by gene targeting display severe movement defects of the limbs. The mature peptide of this protein is identical in all mammals examined including human, pig, rat and mouse.

PPIH is a part of the peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) family. PPIases catalyze the cis-trans isomerization of proline imidic peptide bonds in oligopeptides and increase protein folding. PPIH enzyme is a precise factor of the complex that comprises pre-mRNA processing factors PRPF3, PRPF4, and PRPF18, as well as U4/U5/U6 tri-snRNP. PPIH possess PPIase activity and acts as a protein chaperone that mediates the interactions between different proteins inside the spliceosome.

RANKL binds to tnfrsf11b/opg and to tnfrsf11a/rank. Osteoclast differentiation and activation factor. Augments the ability of dendritic cells to stimulate naive t-cell proliferation. May be an important regulator of interactions between t-cells and dendritic cells and may play a role in the regulation of the t-cell-dependent immune response. sRANKL may also play an important role in enhanced bone-resorption in humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy.

ETS homologous factor (EHF) is a part of the ESE subfamily of Ets transcription factors. Ets factors are an important kind of transcriptional regulators which take part in hema-topoiesis, angiogenesis, organogenesis, oncogenesis and specification of neuronal connectivity. EHF is expressed solely in a subset of epithelial cells, with highest expression noticed in glandular epithelium of the prostate, pancreas, salivary gland and trachea. EHF transactivates the c-Met promoter via 3 high affinity binding sites, which support the notion that EHF contribute to branching morphogenesis.

STMN3 is a neuronal specific protein which belongs to the stathmin/oncoprotein 18 family of microtubule-destabilizing phosphoproteins. It is similar to the SCG10 protein and is involved in signal transduction and regulation of microtubule dynamics.

Toll-interleukin1 receptor (TIR) domain containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) contains 1 TIR domain. TIRAP is an adapter molecule linked with toll-like receptors. TIRAP is required in TLR2 and TLR4 signaling pathways in the innate immune response. TIRAP activates NF-kappa-B, MAPK1, MAPK3 and JNK, which subsequently results in cytokine secretion and the inflammatory response. TIRAP is highly expressed in the liver, kidney, spleen, skeletal muscle and heart. TIRAP is also found in peripheral blood leukocytes, lung, placenta, small intestine, thymus, colon and brain.

GHBP is a transmembrane receptor for growth hormone. Binding of growth hormone to the receptor leads to receptor dimerization and the activation of an intra- and intercellular signal transduction pathway leading to growth. A common alternate allele of this gene, called GHRd3, lacks exon three and has been well-characterized. Mutations in this gene have been associated with Laron syndrome, also known as the growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (GHIS), a disorder characterized by short stature. Other splice variants, including one encoding a soluble form of the protein (GHRtr), have been observed but have not been thoroughly characterized.

Gastrokine 3 (GKN3P) is a Pseudogene, which May inhibit gastric epithelial cell proliferation.

HCST (Hematopoietic Cell Signal Transducer) is part of the DAP10 family. HCST is capable of being a part of an immunoreceptor complex. HCST takes a vital part in inducing cytotoxicity against MHC class I chain-associated MICA & target cells expressing cell surface ligands such as UL16-binding protein (ULBP) & MICB. HCST complex participates in proliferation as well as cell survival by activating T & NK cell responses.

HPGD is the essential enzyme of prostaglandin degradation. 15-PGDH protein strongly decreases the biologic activity of these molecules by catalyzing the oxidation of the 15-hydroxyl group of prostaglandins to a keto group. GDH1 is involved in numerous physiologic and cellular processes, for instance inflammation.

Recombinant Human Sonic Hedgehog is part of a small group of secreted proteins that are vital for development in both vertebrates and invertebrates. 3 mammalian hedgehog genes (sonic, desert, Indian) share about 60% homology. The Human Sonic Hedgehog is 99% homologous to the mouse gene. Sonic HedgeHog is a protein that is vital in guding the early embryo. It has been associated as the major inductive signal in patterning of the ventral neural tube, the anterior-posterior limb axis, and the ventral somites. Sonic HedgeHog binds to the patched receptor, which functions in association with smoothened, to activate the transcription of target genes. In the absence of sonic HedgeHog, patched receptor represses the constitutive signaling activity of smoothened. Sonic HedgeHog also regulates another factor, the gli oncogene. Sonic HedgeHog intercellular signal is essential for a various patterning events during development: signal produced by the notochord that induces ventral cell fate in the

a-Synuclein (amino acids 1-140), an acidic neuronal protein of 140 amino acids, is extremely heat-resistant and is natively unfolded with an extended structure primarily composed of random coils. a-synuclein has been suggested to be implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, and more recently, to be an important regulatory component of vesicular transport in neuronal cells. Moreover, recent studies have shown that a-synuclein has chaperone activity and that this activity is lost upon removing its C-terminal acidic tail (amino acids 96-140).

STIP1 is an adaptor protein that mediates the functions of HSP70 & HSP90 in protein folding. STIP1 supports the transfer of proteins from HSP70 to HSP90 by binding together HSP90 and substrate-bound HSP70. STIP1 stimulates the ATPase activity of HSP70 and inhibits the ATPase activity of HSP90, suggesting that it regulates both the conformations and ATPase cycles of these chaperones. STIP1 genetic variations are involved in regulating corticosteroid response in asthmatic subjects with reduced lung function.

MANF is a 20kDa protein which belongs to the ARMET family. MANF was originally known as an arginine-rich region protein which was extremely mutated in a large number of tumors. MANF Expression is induced during ER stress, signifying that MANF takes part in protein quality control during ER stress.

Malate dehydrogenase (EC1.1.1.37) is an enzyme in the citric acid cycle that catalyzes the conversion of malate into oxaloacetate (using NAD+) and vice versa (this is a reversible reaction). Malate dehydrogenase is not to be confused with malic enzyme, which catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate using NADPH.
Malate dehydrogenase is also involved in gluconeogenesis, the synthesis of glucose from smaller molecules. Pyruvate in the mitochondria is acted upon by pyruvate carboxylase to form oxaloacetate, a citric acid cycle intermediate. In order to get the oxaloacetate out of the mitochondria, malate dehydrogenase reduces it to malate, and it then traverses the inner mitochondrial membrane. Once in the cytosol, the malate is oxidized back to oxaloacetate by cytosolic malate dehydrogenase. Finally, phosphoenol-pyruvate carboxy kinase (PEPCK) converts oxaloacetate to phosphoenol pyruvate.

Interleukin-1b is produced by activated macrophages, IL-1B stimulates thymocyte proliferation by inducing il-2 release, b-cell maturation and proliferation, and fibroblast growth factor activity. IL1B proteins are involved in the inflammatory response, being identified as endogenous pyrogens, and are reported to stimulate the release of prostaglandin and collagenase from synovial cells. IL-1b is an inflammatory cytokine which modulates angiogenesis by interacting directly with vascular endothelial cells & increasing the production of proangiogenic factors through paracrine control. IL-1 beta stimulates endothelial cell migration and proliferation, adhesion-molecule expression, inflammatory mediator production, and leukocyte recruitment. IL1B is essential for tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis in quite a few animal models.

The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine that regulates T and natural killer cell activation and proliferation. This cytokine and interleukine 2 share many biological activities. They are found to bind common hematopoietin receptor subunits, and may compete for the same receptor, and thus negatively regulate each other's activity. The number of CD8+ memory cells is shown to be controlled by a balance between this cytokine and IL2. This cytokine induces the activation of JAK kinases, as well as the phosphorylation and activation of transcription activators STAT3, STAT5, and STAT6. Studies of the mouse counterpart suggested that this cytokine may increase the expression of apoptosis inhibitor BCL2L1/BCL-x(L), possibly through the transcription activation activity of STAT6, and thus prevent apoptosis. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene encoding the same protein have been reported.

IL-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine. This cytokine can induce the IFN-gamma production of T cells. The combination of this cytokine and IL12 has been shown to inhibit IL4 dependent IgE and IgG1 production, and enhance IgG2a production of B cells. IL-18 binding protein (IL18BP) can specifically interact with this cytokine, and thus negatively regulate its biological activity.

IL-29 is distantly related to type I interferons and the IL-10 family. Expression of IL-29 is induced by viral infection which interacts with a heterodimeric class II cytokine receptor that consists of interleukin 10 receptor, beta (IL10RB) and interleukin 28 receptor, alpha. IL-29 exhibits common features with type I IFNs such as antiviral activity, antiproliferative activity and in vivo antitumour activity.
IL-29 acts similarly to IFNs, but is less effective generally and has activity in a more limited range of cell lines. IFN-ambda 1, IFN-lambda 2 and IFN-lambda3 are closely positioned genes on human chromosome 19.
IL-29 induces ELR(-) CXC chemokine mRNA in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, in an IFN-gamma-independent manner.
IL-29 is able to generate tolerogenic DCs, an activity that could thwart IFN-beta functions. IL-29 produced in response to viral infection, activates both monocytes and macrophages producing a restricted panel of cytokines and therefore is an important factor in activating innate immune responses at the site of viral infection.
IFN-Lambda 1 antiviral and antiproliferative activity requires Interferon-Lambda 2 receptor tyrosine residues.

HIF1A has a role as a master transcriptional monitor of the adaptive response to hypoxia. Under hypoxic conditions HIF1A activates the transcription of over 40 genes, including, erythropoietin, glucose transporters, glycolytic enzymes, vascular endothelial growth factor, and genes whose protein products increase oxygen release or facilitate metabolic adaptation to hypoxia. HIF1A functions as an essential role in embryonic vascularization, tumor angiogenesis and pathophysiology of ischemic disease.