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CNDP Dipeptidase 1, also known as CNDP1 is a member of the peptidase M20A family. CNDP1 Mannheim which is the shortest allelic form has been more common in the absence of nephropathy in addition to being associated with lower serum carnosinase levels. Furthermore, Carnosine inhibited the increased production of fibronectin as well as collagen type VI in podocytes and the increased production of TGF-beta in mesangial cells. Diabetic patients with the CNDP1 Mannheim variant are less at risk for nephropathy. In addition, on renal cells carnosine protects against the adverse effects of high glucose levels.

Pyrroline-5-Carboxylate Reductase Like (PYCRL) is a member of the pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase family and acts as a homodecamer. PYCRL plays a key role in proline bio-synthesis. Proline serves as a non-enzymatic antioxidant to reduce damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) in microorganisms, animals and plants. In the final stage of proline biosynthesis, PYCRL catalyzes the reduction of aldehyde dehydrogenase 4A1 (ALDH4A1) to proline with NAD(P)H as the cofactor.

CRP is an acute phase protein that correlates with inflammatory disease and is synthesized by hepatocytes during the acute phase response by certain cytokines (IL-1 and TNF Alpha and Beta). CRP levels increase dramatically (up to 1,000 fold) and serve as a useful marker of inflammation in such conditions as bacterial infection, rheumatoid arthritis, viral infections, transplantation rejection, meningitis, myocardial infarction, septicemia, osteomyelitis and others. CRP is also highly correlated to Serum Amyloid A levels.

AKR1B10 efficiently reduces aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, and it is less active on hexoses. AKR1B10 is highly expressed in adrenal gland, small intestine, and colon, and may play an important role in liver carcinogenesis. AKR1B10 is a monomeric protein that competently catalyzes the reduction of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes and ketones. AKR1B10 is widely expressed in numerous human tissues, small intestine, colon and adrenal gland. AKR1B10 is pathogenically involved in diabetic complications and is overexpressed in human tumors, such as liver, breast, and lung cancer, AKR1B10 is involved in the development and progression of cancer.

CBX5 belongs to the heterochromatin protein family. CBX5 is enriched in the heterochromatin and linked with centromeres. CBX5 takes part in the creation of functional kinetochore by interaction with important kinetochore proteins. CBX5 has a pseudogene situated on chromosome 3. Additionaly, The CBX5 proteins reconnect with chromatin at the end of mitosis, as Histone H3 is dephosphorylated.

FKBP3 is part of a family of immunosuppressant receptors which inhibit T-cell proliferation by arresting two distinct cytoplasmic signal transmission pathways. FKBP3 accelerates the folding of proteins. FKBP3 is part of the immunophilin protein family, which participates in immunoregulation and fundamental cellular processes concerning protein folding and trafficking. FKBP3 is a cis-trans prolyl isomerase enzyme that binds the immunosuppressants FK506 and rapamycin, as well as histone deacetylases, the transcription factor YY1, casein kinase II, and nucleolin. It has a greater affinity for rapamycin than for FK506 and therefore is a significant protein for immunosuppression by rapamycin.

Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs), are a family of cell surface glycoproteins found on Natural Killer (NK) Cells, which are important cells of the immune system. They control the killing function of these cells by interacting with MHC class I molecules, which are expressed on all cell types. This interaction allows them to identify virally infected cells or tumor cells that have a distinctive low level of Class I MHC on their surface. The majority of KIRs are inhibitory, which means that their recognition of MHC suppresses the cytotoxic activity of their NK cell. Only a limited number of KIRs have the capacity to activate cells.
The KIR genes are found in a cluster on chromosome 19q13.4 within the 1 Mb leukocyte receptor complex (LRC). KIR molecules are extremely polymorphic, meaning their gene sequences differ significantly between individuals, so that different individuals have different arrays/repertoires of KIR genes.
The KIR proteins are categorized by the number of extracellular immunoglobulin domains (2D or 3D) and by whether they have a long (L) or short (S) cytoplasmic domain. KIR proteins with the long cytoplasmic domain transduce inhibitory signals upon ligand binding via an immune tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM). Whereas KIR proteins with the short cytoplasmic domain lack the ITIM motif and instead associate with the TYRO protein tyrosine kinase binding protein to transduce activating signals.
KIR2DL1 is an inhibitory Killer Cell Ig-like Receptor (KIR, previously called p58 KIR, p58.1, cl-42, NKAT1, or KIR-K6), which recognizes class I MHC molecules (HLA-Cw2, -Cw4, -Cw5, and Cw6). The extracellular domain of KIR2DL1 was over expressed as insoluble protein aggregates (inclusion bodies).

Zinc Finger Protein 689 (ZNF689) is a member of the krueppel C2H2-type zinc-finger protein family. The ZNF689 protein contains 12 C2H2-type zinc fingers and 1 KRAB domain. ZNF689 may be involved in transcriptional regulation.

PIM1, which is a part of the Ser/Thr protein kinase family and PIM subfamily, is expressed primarily in B-lymphoid and myeloid cell lines, and is overexpressed in hematopoietic malignancies and in prostate cancer. PIM1 functions as Proto-oncogene with serine/threonine kinase activity involved in cell survival and cell proliferation, consequently providing a selective advantage in tumorigenesis. Both human and orthologous mouse genes have been reported to encode two isoforms resulting from the use of alternative in-frame translation initiation codons, the upstream non-AUG (CUG) and downstream AUG codons.

Branched-chain ?-keto acid dehydrogenase E1 component ? chain (BCKDHA) is a member of the BCKDHA family. The BCKD (branched-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase) complex is an inner mitochondrial enzyme complex which catalyzes the second major step in the catabolism of the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. This complex consists of 3 catalytic components: a heterotetrameric (alpha2-beta2) branched-chain alpha-keto acid decarboxylase (E1), a dihydrolipoyl transacylase (E2), and a dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (E3). Mutations in the BCKDHA gene result in maple syrup urine disease, type IA.

Troponin I, fast skeletal muscle (TNNI2), belongs to the troponin I gene family, and a part of the troponin complex including troponin T, troponin C and troponin I subunits. The troponin complex, along with tropomyosin, is responsible for the calcium-dependent regulation of striated muscle contraction. TNNI2 is also suppresses tumor growth in human ovarian carcinoma. Mutations in TNNI2 cause myopathy and distal arthrogryposis type 2B.

CDKN2A Interacting Protein N-Terminal Like (CDKN2AIPNL) is a part of the CARF family.

UBE2K belongs to the ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes family which take part in many cellular processes such as selective protein degradation, DNA repair, cell cycle control, and sporulation. In this mechanism, the ATP-coupled activation and subsequent ligation of ubiquitin are catalyzed by separate enzymes functionally linked by ubiquitin carrier protein UBC1. In addition, UBE2K is involved in Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and antigen processing through its interaction with amyloid-?, huntingtin, and MHC-heavy chain proteins.

Carboxypeptidase A4 (CPA4) belongs to the carboxypeptidase A/B subfamily, and it is located in a cluster with 3 other family members on chromosome 7. CPA4 is a secreted, zinc-dependent metallocarboxypeptidase, which removes the C-terminal amino acid from peptides having a free C-terminal carboxyl group. CPA4 is a metalloprotease which may be involved in the histone hyperacetylation pathway. CPA4 are synthesized as zymogens which are activated by proteolytic cleavage.

CRP is an acute phase protein that correlates with inflammatory disease and is synthesized by hepatocytes during the acute phase response by certain cytokines (IL-1 and TNF Alpha and Beta). CRP levels increase dramatically ( up to 1,000 fold) and serve as a useful marker of inflammation in such conditions as bacterial infection, rheumatoid arthritis, viral infections, transplantation rejection, meningitis, myocardial infarction, septicemia, osteomyelitis and others. CRP is also highly correlated to Serum Amyloid A levels.

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).

YWHAB belongs to the 14-3-3 family of proteins which are in charge for signal transduction by binding to phosphoserine-containing proteins. YWHAB is found in both plants and mammals. YWHAB protein interacts with RAF1 and CDC25 phosphatases,thus linking mitogenic signaling and the cell cycle machinery. YWHAB is an adapter protein involved in the regulation of a large spectrum of both general and specialized signaling pathway. YWHAB binds to a large number of proteins by recognition of a phosphoserine or phosphothreonine motif. Binding generally results in the modulation of the activity of the binding partner.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a glycoprotein present in fetal digestive-tract tissues; it’s involved in cell adhesion. The production of CEA stops before birth. CEA is called tumor marker since its elevated levels are found in the serum from individuals with colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, lung and breast carcinomas and in heavy smokers.
There are also benign conditions that elevate CEA levels such as smoking, infection, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and some benign tumors (in the equivalent organs which have cancers with elevated CEA). Typically, higher levels of CEA are found in men, smokers, and older individuals.
The presence of CEA assists in screening, in evaluating recurrent or disseminated disease, and in determining the success of surgical removal of malignant tumors.
CEA levels can be used as indicators of treatment success. The normal values range from 0.0 to 2.5 ng/ml of serum (from blood), in non-smokers, a greater amount than that may be suggestive of cancer. Levels above 20 ng/ml before treatment are associated with cancer which has already metastasized. Benign conditions do not usually cause a CEA increase over 10 ng/ml.
The high levels of CEA should return to normal after successful therapy, however if during follow up there’s an elevation in CEA levels it indicates a recurrence of tumor.
Carcinoembryonic antigen family belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily; it consists of 29 genes, 18 of which are normally expressed.

NNMT is part of the family of transferases, especially those transferring one-carbon group methyltransferases. NNMT is mostly expressed in the liver, and a lower expression is seen in the kidney, lung, skeletal muscle, placenta and heart. NNMT catalyzes the N-methylation of nicotinamide and other pyridines to form pyridinium ions. This activity is significant for biotransformation of many drugs and xenobiotic compounds. NNMT is accountable for the enzymatic activity which uses S-adenosyl methionine as the methyl donor. NNMT expression is related with tumor stage and DFS time in hepatocellular carcinoma cases. NNMT is a good candidate as a tumor marker of various kinds of cancers. NNMT serum levels have significance in the premature detection and in the management of patients with colorectal cancer.

Dual Specificity Phosphatase 26 (DUSP26) inhibits MAP kinase p38 by dephosphorylating it and inhibits p38-mediated apoptosis in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells. DUSP26 also induces activation of MAP kinase p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase. DUSP26 inactivates MAPK1 and MAPK3 which leads to dephosphorylation of heat shock factor protein 4 and a decrease in its DNA-binding activity.

Docking Protein 4(DOK4) is a member of the DOK family. DOK proteins are enzymatically inert adaptor or scaffolding proteins. The DOK proteins present a docking platform for the compilation of multimolecular signaling complexes. DOK4 serves in RET-mediated neurite outgrowth and has a positive role in activation of the MAP kinase pathway. DOK4 is a putative link with downstream effectors of RET in neuronal differentiation. DOK4 is involved in the regulation of the immune response induced by T-cells.

Twinfilin (TWF1) is a ubiquitous actin-monomer-binding protein which is composed of two ADF-homology domains. Twinfilin forms a 1:1 complex with ADP-actin-monomers, prevents nucleotide exchange on actin monomers and blocks assembly of the monomer into filaments. TWF1 is composed of 2 ADF/cofilin-like (ADF-H) domains joined by a short linker region and followed by a C-terminal tail of approximately 20 residues. The 2 ADF-H domains are approximately 20% homologous to ADF/cofilin and to each other. TWF1 protein may be an actin monomer-binding protein, and its localization to cortical G-actin-rich structures might be regulated by the small GTPase RAC1.

Non-Metastatic Cells 4 or NME4, is a nucleoside diphosphate kinase located in the mitochondria, and is part of the NDK family of proteins. NME4 ais a very common enzyme that enhances transfer of gamma-phosphates, through a phosphohistidine as a intermediate, between dioxynucleoside tri- and diphosphates. NME4 is originated from the nm23 gene. NME4 has a crucial part in the creation of nucleoside triphosphates that are not ATP.

Branched Chain Amino-Acid Transaminase 2 (BCAT2) is a member of the class-IV pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent aminotransferase family. BCAT2 is a branched chain aminotransferase found in mitochondria. BCAT2 forms a dimer which catalyzes the first step in the production of the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. In addition, BCAT2 may actn as a transporter of branched chain alpha-keto acids.