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CDC34 is important in the control of cell cycle and DNA replication. Cdc34 in association with different E3 complexes, including SCF, has been shown to target many different substrates for ubiquitination and degradation during cell division, signal transduction, and development. Cdc34 substrates that have been characterized include I?B, B-Myb, Wee1, MyoD, ICERII?, ATF5, p27Xic1, and p27Kip1. Additionally, substrates such as ?-catenin, p21Cip1, E2F, cyclin E, and cyclin D are putative substrates of Cdc34 by virtue of their SCF requirement for proteolysis. Cdc34 has been demonstrated to self-associate through a domain in the C-terminus, and is phosphorylated and ubiquitinylated in vivo. This protein is useful for in vitro ubiquitinylation reactions.

Actin-related protein 2/3 complex subunit 2 (ARPC2), is a part of the Rho family of small GTPases and one of seven subunits of the human Arp2/3 protein complex. The Arp2/3 protein complex has been implicated in the control of actin polymerization in cells and has been conserved through evolution. Nevertheless, the exact role of the protein (the p34 subunit) has yet to be determined.

Parathymosin, also known as PTMS is a member of the pro/parathymosin family. PTMS may mediate immune function by blocking the effect of prothymosin alpha which confers resistance to particular opportunistic infections. Among the diseases associated with PTMS are hepatitis b, and alzheimer's disease.

KLK2 is a part of the grandular kallikrein protein family whose Members are engaged in a diverse array of biological functions. Kallikreins are a subgroup of serine proteases which are clustered on chromosome 19. KLK2 is a highly active trypsin-like serine protease which selectively cleaves at arginine remains. KLK2 is mostly expressed in prostatic tissue and is accountable for cleaving pro-prostate-specific antigen into its enzymatically active form. KLK2 is greatly expressed in prostate tumor cells and may possibly be a prognostic maker for prostate cancer risk.

Alpha crystallins are composed of two gene products ; alpha-A and alpha-B, for acidic and basic, respectively. Alpha crystallins can be induced by heat shock and are members of the small heat shock protein(sHSP also known as the HSP20). They act as molecular chaperones and hold them in large soluble aggregates. These heterogeneous aggregates consist of 30-40 subunits; the alpha-A and alpha-B subunits have a 3:1 ratio, respectively. Two additional function of a-crystallins are an autokinase activity and participation in the intracellular architecture. The expression of alpha-A is preferentially restricted to the lens cell.

ER Lipid Raft Associated 2 (ERLIN2) is a domain-containing protein which is a member of the band 7/mec-2 family. ERLIN2 is a ubiquitously expressed 339 amino acid protein.ERLIN2 which is localized to the lipid raft-like domains in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), plays a key role in the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway that eliminates metabolically regulated and abnormal proteins from the ER.

Resistin, a product of the RSTN gene, is a peptide hormone belonging to the class of cysteine-rich secreted proteins (monomeric peptide contains 11 cysteine residues) referred to as the RELM family, and is also described as ADSF (Adipose Tissue-Specific Secretory Factor) or FIZZ3 (Found in Inflammatory Zone 3). Mouse resistin is expressed as a 114 amino acid prepeptide; its hydrofobic Nterminal 20 amino acid signal peptide is cleaved before its secretion. Mouse resistin circulates in blood as a homodimeric protein consisting of two 94 amino acid polypeptides, which are disulfide-linked via Cys26.
Resistin may be an important link between obesity. Mouse resistin, specifically produced and secreted by adipocyte, acts on skeletal muscle myocytes, hepatocytes and adipocytes themselves so that it reduces their sensitivity. Steppan et al. have suggested that resistin suppressed the ability to stimulate glucose uptake. They have also suggested that resistin was present at elevated levels in blood of obese mice, and was down regulated by fasting and by antidiabetic drugs. Way et al., on the other hand, have found that resistin expression is severely suppressed in obesity.
Other studies have shown that mouse resistin increases during the differentiation of adipocytes, but it also seems to inhibit adipogenesis. In contrast, the human adipogenic differentiation is likely to be associated with a down regulation of resistin gene expression.

C6 is necessary for membrane attack complex formation and is activated by binding to recently-formed C5b at the cell membrane.Each pathway of complement activation generates proteolytic enzyme complexes which are bound to the target surface. These enzymes cleave a peptide bond in the larger alpha chain of C5 releasing C5a and activating C5b. Although C5b is unstable it remains bound to the activating complex for a few minutes during which it binds a single C6 from the surrounding fluid or it decays and is no longer capable of forming MAC. The C5b,6 complex may also remain connected to the C3/C5 convertase where the binding of a single C7 exposes a membrane-binding region and C5b,6,7 can enter into the bilipid layer of the target cell.

Leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor 2 (LAIR2) is a secreted, 131 amino acids protein which contains one IglikeC2 type domain, rendering it a member of the Ig superfamily. Even though one is secreted and one is membrane bound, the 2 LAIR proteins are assumed to have evolved from a common gene ancestor and seem to share similar adhesion profiles, suggesting that LAIR2 may compete with LAIR1 for ligand binding. LAIR2 was discovered by its similarity to LAIR1, which is an inhibitory receptor present on mononuclear leukocytes. The LAIR2 gene maps to a region of 19q13.4, dubbed the leukocyte receptor cluster, which contains 29 genes in the immunoglobulin superfamily, including LAIR1. The function of the LAIR2 protein is unknown, though it is assumed to be secreted and may help modulate mucosal tolerance.

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.

Chemokine (C motif) ligand (XCL1) is a small cytokine belonging to the XC chemokine family that is also known as lymphotactin. It is found in high levels in spleen, thymus, intestine and peripheral blood leukocytes, and at lower levels in lung, prostate gland and ovary. Cellular sources for XCL1 include activated thymic and peripheral blood CD8+ T cells. This chemokine attracts T cells. In humans, XCL1 is closely related to another chemokine called XCL2, whose geneis found at the same locus on chromosome 1. XCL1 induces it chemotactic function by binding to a chemokine receptor called XCR1.

GH-releasing peptides (GHRPs) are synthetic peptides that like GHRH act directly on pituitary somatotrophs to stimulate GH release. Growth hormone (GH) release is stimulated by a variety of synthetic secretagogues, of which growth hormone-releasing hexapeptide (GHRP-6) has been most thoroughly studied; it is thought to have actions at both pituitary and hypothalamic site.

Cardiotrophin 1 (CT-1) is a 201 amino acid member of the interleukin-6 superfamily. It was identified by its ability to induce hypertrophic response in cardiac myocytes. CT-1 mRNA levels were found both in cardiac myocytes and in cardiac nonmyocytes. CT 1 was also detected in abundance in normal adult human lung and was expressed in both fetal and adult airway smooth muscle cells. CT 1 activates gp130 dependent signaling and stimulates the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway to transduce hypertrophic and cytoprotective signals in cardiac myocytes.
CT 1 has also a neurotrophic function. CTF1 deficiency causes increased motoneuron cell death in spinal cord and brainstem nuclei of mice during a period between embryonic day 14 and the first postnatal week. Moreover, CT-1 is a hepatocyte survival factor that efficiently reduces hepatocellular damage in animal models of acute liver injury. Cardiotrophin 1 expression is augmented after hypoxic stimulation and it can protect cardiac cells when added either prior to simulated ischaemia or at the time of reoxygenation following simulated ischaemia. Cardiotrophin 1 can induce expression of the protective heat shock proteins (hsps) in cardiac cells.
Cardiotrophin-1 increased ventricular expression of ANP, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and angiotensinogen mRNA.
Cardiophin 1 levels were significantly elevated in patients with heart failure, patients with dilatative cardiomyopathy, moderate/severe mitral regurgitation, stable and unstable angina and after acute myocardial infarction.

Hemopexin (or haemopexin) is a plasma protein that binds heme with the highest affinity of any known protein. Hemopexin is generally expressed in liver, and belongs to acute phase reactants, the synthesis of which is induced after inflammation. Heme is potentially very toxic because of its ability to intercalate into lipid membrane and to generate hydroxyl radicals. Hemopexin’s function of scavenging the heme released or lost by the turnover of heme proteins such as hemoglobin defends the body from the oxidative damage that free heme can cause. Additionally, hemopexin discharges its bound ligand for internalisation upon interacting with a specific receptor located on the surface of liver cells. This hemopexin function is in order to preserve the body's iron. Hemopexin’s levels in the serum are an indication of how much heme is present in the blood. Low Hemopexin levels show that there is a lot of it in the serum. For that reason, low hemopexin levels indicate that there has been consid

Granulocyte Chemotactic Protein 2 (CXCL6), also known as GCP-2, is a Chemotactic for neutrophil granulocytes. GCP-2 signals through binding and activation of its receptors (CXCR1 and CXCR2). GCP-2 has strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in addition to its chemotactic and angiogenic property.

KRT20 is a member of the keratin family. The keratins are intermediate filament proteins responsible for the structural integrity of epithelial cells and are subdivided into cytokeratins and hair keratins. The type I cytokeratins consist of acidic proteins which are arranged in pairs of heterotypic keratin chains. This cytokeratin is a major cellular protein of mature enterocytes and goblet cells and is specifically expressed in the gastric and intestinal mucosa. The type I cytokeratin genes are clustered in a region of chromosome 17q12-q21.

The HIV1 p24 His Tag protein performs complex orchestrated tasks during the assembly, budding maturation and infection stages of the viral replication cycle. Throughout viral assembly, the proteins form membrane associations and self-associations that ultimately result in budding of an immature virion from the infected cell. HIV-1 P24 gag, the key capsid protein of the HIV-1 virion, is used in clinical trials as one of the components of the HIV-1 vaccine because of the great extent of sequence homology between different isolates.

Platelet factor-4 is a 70-amino acid protein that is released from the alpha-granules of activated platelets. Its major physiologic role appears to be neutralization of molecules on the endothelial surface of blood vessels, thereby inhibiting local antithrombin III activity and promoting coagulation. As a strong chemoattractant for neutrophils and fibroblasts, PF4 probably has a role in inflammation and wound repair. Oncostatin-A is a member of the CXC chemokine family. Furthermore it is used as an inhibitor in the angiogenesis during tumor therapy.

STMN2 is a neuronal growth-associated protein which shares a majority of its amino acid sequence with the phosphoprotein stathmin. STMN2 is involved in neuronal differentiation and in modulating membrane interaction with the cytoskeleton through neurite outgrowth. STMN2 is necessary for maintaining the anchorage-independent growth state of beta-catenin/TCF-activated hepatoma cells. SCG10 is a novel indicator of osteogenesis and osteoblast that takes part in the regulation of the adipocyte/osteoblast balance. STMN2 plays a role as an effector downstream of Rnd1 to regulate axon extensions by modulating microtubule organization.

Resistin, also known as adipose tissue-specific secretory factor (ADSF) is a cysteine-rich peptide derived from adipose tissue. Resistin takes part in the inflammatory response, glucose metabolism, and angiogenesis.Resistin blocks insulinstimulated uptake of glucose by adipocytes and promote glucose release by hepatocytes. As such,Resistin considered to participate in diet‑induced insulin-sensitivity. Resistin causes high levels of lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL), increasing the risk of heart disease.

Streptolysin-O is a sulfhydryl-activated toxin which causes cytolysis by forming pores in cholesterol containing host membranes. After binding to target membranes, the Streptolysin-O protein undergoes a major conformation change, leading to its insertion in the host membrane and creation of an oligomeric pore complex. Cholesterol may be needed for binding to host membranes, membrane insertion and pore formation. Streptolysin-O can be reversibly inactivated by oxidation.

Leptin is a protein hormone. It is mainly produced in adipose cells that regulate energy homeostasis by restraining hunger. Leptin ties to nuclear receptors in the hypothalamus (arcuate nucleus). Similar to insulin resistance in type II diabetes, in obesity there is a decrease in the sensitivity towards leptin, ending in a failure to identify satiety, even in high levels of energy stores or leptin itself. Full-length cDNA encoding 2 leptin sequences (tLepA and tLepB) and 1 leptin receptor sequence (tLepR) exists in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). The full-length cDNA of tLepR is 3423 bp, encoding a protein of 1140 amino acid which contained all functionally important domains conserved among vertebrate leptin receptors. The cDNAs of tLepA and tLepB are 486 bp and 459 bp in length, encoding proteins of 161 aa and 152 aa, respectively. The three-dimensional structures of tLepA and tLepB demonstrates strong conservation of tertiary structure with that of human leptin comprised of 4 helixes.

Cytokeratin 14 is a member of the keratin family, the most diverse group of intermediate filaments. Cytokeratin 14 is a type I keratin, is usually found as a heterotetramer with two keratin 5 molecules, a type II keratin. Together they form the cytoskeleton of epithelial cells. Mutations in the genes for these keratins are associated with epidermolysis bullosa simplex. At least one pseudogene has been identified at 17p12-p11.