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Resistin, a product of the RSTN gene, is a peptide hormone belonging to the class of cysteine-rich secreted proteins which is termed the RELM family, and is also described as ADSF (Adipose Tissue- Specific Secretory Factor) and FIZZ3 (Found in Inflammatory Zone). Human resistin contains 108 amino acids as a prepeptide, and its hydrofobic signal peptide is cleaved before its secretion. Resistin circulates in human blood as a dimeric protein consisting of two 92 amino acid polypeptides, which are disulfide-linked via Cys26.
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 suppresses the ability to stimulate glucose uptake. They have also suggested that resistin is present at elevated levels in blood of obese mice, and is down regulated by fasting and antidiabetic drugs. Way et al., on the other hand, have found that resistin expression is severly suppressed in obesity and is stimulated by several antidiabetic drugs.
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.

Inhibins are dimeric peptide hormones produced by female ovarian granulose cells and male Sertoli cells as well as a variety of other tissues. Inhibins have two isoforms, A and B, with the same alpha subunit but different beta subunits. Inhibin A is a dimer of alpha and beta A subunits, inhibin B is a dimer of alpha and beta B subunits.
Inhibins are thought to inhibit the production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by the pituitary gland. In addition, Inhibins are also thought to play a role in the control of gametogenesis, and embryonic and fetal development.

Nucleobindin-2 (also known as NUCB2 or Nesfatin) is a EF-hand calcium-binding protein. Nucleobindin-2 takes part in calcium homeostasis and is a multifunctional protein that interacts with Ca(2+) nucleic acids & various regulatory proteins in different signaling pathways. NUCB2 (Nesfatin) is localized in neuronal perikarya and dendrites of mouse brain.

A 16-kDa peptide hormone secreted from white adipocytes and implicated in the regulation of food intake and energy balance. Leptin provides the key afferent signal from fat cells in the feedback system that controls body fat stores.

TAGLN is a transformation and form-change responsive actin cross-linking/gelling protein that is part of the calponin family. TAGLN is expressed abundantly in fibroblasts and smooth muscle. TAGLN participates in calcium interactions and contractile properties of the cell that contribute to replicative senescence. Throughout embryogenesis, TAGLN is expressed in smooth, cardiac and skeletal muscle, but is limited during late fetal growth and adulthood to all vascular and visceral smooth muscle cells and low levels of expression in heart. TAGLN is downregulated in several transformed cell lines, showing that a decrease of TAGLN expression is an premature indicator of the onset of transformation.

Though the exact role of MMACHC is unknown, its C-terminal region shows similarity to TonB, which is a bacterial protein involved in energy transduction for cobalamin (vitamin B12) uptake. Therefore, it is suggested that MMACHC may have a role in the binding and intracellular trafficking of cobalamin. MMACHC mutations are linked with methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria type cblC. MMACHC is widely expressed, it is expressed at higher level in the fetal liver, however it is also expressed in the spleen, lymph node, thymus and bone marrow. MMACHC is weakly or not expressed in the peripheral blood leukocytes.

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.

XCL1 is a small cytokine belonging to the XC chemokine family that is also known as lymphotactin. It is located 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 gene is found at the same locus on chromosome 1. XCL1 induces it chemotactic function by binding to a chemokine receptor called XCR1.

MICB (MHC class I chain-related gene B) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that functions as a ligand for human NKG2D type II receptor. A closely related protein, MICA, shares 85% amino acid identity with MICB. These 2 proteins are distantly related to the MHC class I proteins. MICA and MICB (MICA/B) possess three extracellular immunoglobulin-like domains, but have no capacity to bind peptide or interact with ?2-microglobulin. The genes encoding MICA/B are found within the major histocompatibility complex on human chromosome 6. The MICB locus is polymorphic with more than 15 recognized human alleles. MICA/B are minimally expressed on normal cells, but are frequently expressed on epithelial tumors and can be induced by bacterial and viral infections. MICA/B are ligands for NKG2D, an activating receptor expressed on NK cells, NKT cells, ?? T cells, and CD8+ ?? T cells. Recognition of MICA/B by NKG2D results in the activation of cytolytic activity and/or cytokine production by these effector cells. MICA/B recognition is involved in tumor surveillance, viral infections, and autoimmune diseases. The release of soluble forms of MICA/B from tumors down-regulates NKG2D surface expression on effector cells resulting in the impairment of anti-tumor immune response.

Fractalkine soluble form is chemotactic for t-cells and monocytes, but not for neutrophils. Fractalkine membrane-bound form promotes adhesion of those leukocytes to endothelial cells. Fractalkine regulates leukocyte adhesion and migration processes at the endothelium and binds to CX3CR1. Natural Human Fractalkine is produced as a long protein (373-amino acid) with an extended mucin-like stalk and a chemokine domain on top. The mucin-like stalk permits it to bind to the cell surface. Fractalkine gene is located on human chromosome 16 along with some CC chemokines known as CCL17 and CCL22.

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).

STUB1, is a cytoplasmic protein whose amino acid sequence is highly preserved across species. STUB1 interacts with the molecular chaperones Hsc70-Hsp70 and Hsp90 through its TPR domain, whereas its U-box domain contains its E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. STUB1 interaction with these molecular chaperones lead to in client substrate ubiquitylation and degradation by the proteasome. therefore, STUB1 acts to tilt the folding-refolding mechanism towards the degradative pathway, and it serves as a link between the two. STUB1 inhibits anchorage-independent cell growth and metastatic potential by degrading oncogenic proteins including SRC-3. Inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity of Her-2/neu by quercetin specifies an lateration in the Her-2/neu structure which promotes STUB1 recruitments and down-regulation of Her-2/neu. STUB1 recognizes and mediates degradation of toxic, oligomeric forms of alphaSyn.

Inhibins are dimeric peptide hormones produced by female ovarian granulose cells and male Sertoli cells as well as a variety of other tissues. Inhibins have two isoforms, A and B, with the same alpha subunit but different beta subunits. Inhibin A is a dimer of alpha and beta A subunits, inhibin B is a dimer of alpha and beta B subunits.
Inhibins are thought to inhibit the production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by the pituitary gland. In addition, Inhibins are also thought to play a role in the control of gametogenesis, and embryonic and fetal development.

V-set and transmembrane domain containing 2 (VSTM2L) is a novel modulator of HN neuroprotective activity. VSTM2L colocalizes with HN in distinct brain areas as well as in primary cultured neurons, where it plays a part in the modulation of neuronal viability. When tested in HN neuroprotection bioassays, VSTM2L acts as a potent antagonist of HN neuroprotective activity. The VSTM2L protein is the first example of a secreted antagonist of HN and may have a role in the modulation of HN biological functions.

DDIT3 reduces DNA-binding activity of C/EBP and lap by forming heterodimers which don’t bind DNA. DDIT3, also known as GADD153, is a basic domain-leucine zipper(bZIP) transcription factor of C/EBP family. DDIT3 protein is up-regulated by several stresses, such as amino acid or glucose starvation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, osmotic stress and hypoxia. DDIT3 protein is invloved in ER stress-mediated apoptosis and in disease including diabetes, brain ischemia and neurodegenerative disease. DDIT3 plays a role in asoprisnil-induced apoptosis. Hypoglycaemia-induced necrotic cell death of neuroblastoma cells is an active process mediated via the induction of the transcription factor DDIT3. DDIT3 plays an important role in melanoma progression. HRG stimulation of mammary epithelial cells induces the expression of DDIT3 mRNA and protein and transcription of DDIT3 promoter.

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).

Methionine sulfoxide reductase B3 (MSRB3) is a member of the methionine sulfoxide reductases (MSR) family proteins. MSRB3 catalyzes the reduction of methionine sulfoxide to methionine. The MSRB3 enzyme acts as a monomer and requires zinc as a cofactor. MSRs are thought to defend against reactive oxygen species-induced oxidative damage in various organs, including the most environmentally exposed organ, the human skin. MSRB3 has a vital role in cold tolerance by eliminating MetO and ROS which accumulate at the ER during cold acclimation.

PSMB1 is part of the proteasome B-type family, also identified as the T1B family, that is a 20S core beta subunit. PSMB1 is tightly linked to the TBP (TATA-binding protein) gene in human and in mouse, and is transcribed in the opposite orientation in both species.The main function of PSMB1 is its degradation activity of unnecessary or damaged proteins by proteolysis. PSMB1 is a multicatalytic proteinase complex which is characterized by its ability to cleave peptides with arg, phe, tyr, leu, and glu adjacent to the leaving group at neutral or slightly basic ph. the proteasome has an atp-dependent proteolytic activity.

FSCN1 is an actin-bundling protein that is responsible for rigidity to filopodial bundles to efficiently push the membrane forward during cytoskeleton remodeling and cell migration. FSCN1 takes part in the gathering of actin filament bundles present in microspikes, membrane ruffles, and stress fibers. FSCN1 is absent from most normal epithelia though is upregulated in multiple forms of human carcinoma, where its expression associates clinically with a poor prognosis. FSCN1 expression is abundantly found in neurons, glial cells, and endothelial cells.

MMADHC is a mitochondrial protein which takes part in an early step of vitamin B1 2 metabolism. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is vital for regular development and existence in humans. Mutations in MMADHC can result in methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria type cblD, a cobalamin metabolism syndrome which is characterized by decreased levels of the coenzymes methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin.

Sorting nexin 3 (SNX3) belongs to the large family of hydrophilic proteins, which interact with various receptor types and are involved in intracellular trafficking. SNX3 interacts with phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate, and is involved in protein trafficking. SNX3 comprises a distinct subgroup of nexins, which share less sequence similarity outside of the PX domain and have significantly different binding affinities for the tyrosine kinase receptors.

MAP3K12 Binding Inhibitory Protein 1 (MBIP) is a part of the ATAC complex which consists of histones H3 and H4 with a histone acetyltransferase activity. MBIP inhibits the MAP3K12 activity in order to induce the activation of the JNK/SAPK pathway.

Maltose Binding Protein is a member of the maltose/maltodextrin system of E.Coli, which is accountable for the uptake and efficient catabolism of maltodextrins. The maltose/maltodextrin is a complex regulatory and transport system involving many proteins and protein complexes.
MBP elevates the yield of its fusion partner in many cases and is often able to promote the solubility of polypeptides to which it is fused.