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The FGFs are a family of more than 20 small (~17–26 kDa) secreted peptides. The initial characterization of these proteins focused on their ability to stimulate fibroblast proliferation. This mitogenic activity was mediated through FGF receptors (FGFRs) 1, 2, or 3. A fourth closely related tyrosine kinase receptor (FGFR4) was able to bind the FGFs but did not lead to a mitogenic response.
FGFs modulate cellular activity via at least 5 distinct subfamilies of high-affinity FGF receptors (FGFRs): FGFR-1, -2, -3, and -4, all with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and, except for FGFR-4, multiple splice isoforms, and FGFR-5, which lacks an intracellular kinase domain. There is growing evidence that FGFRs can be important for regulation of glucose and lipid homeostasis. The overexpression of a dominant negative form of FGFR-1 in ? cells leads to diabetes in mice, which thus implies that proper FGF signaling is required for normal ? cell function and glycemia maintenance. FGFR-2 appears to be a key molecule during pancreatic development. Moreover, FGFR-4 has been implicated in cholesterol metabolism and bile acid synthesis.
FGF-19, has been shown to cause resistance to diet-induced obesity and insulin desensitization and to improve insulin, glucose, and lipid profiles in diabetic rodents. Since these effects, at least in part, are mediated through the observed changes in metabolic rates, FGF-19 can be considered as a regulator of energy expenditure.
FGF-21 is preferentially expressed in liver, but an exact knowledge of FGF-21 bioactivity and its mode of action have been lacking to date. FGF-21 is a potent activator of glucose uptake on adipocytes, protects animals from diet-induced obesity when overexpressed in transgenic mice, and lowers blood glucose and triglyceride levels when therapeutically administered to diabetic rodents.

Immature Colon Carcinoma Transcript 1 (ICT1) functions as a codon-independent translation release factor that has lost all stop codon specificity and leads the termination of translation in mitochondrion in case of abortive elongation. The mature colon epithelium has 3 differentiated cell types which arise from a multipotent stem cell. ICT1 is involved in the hydrolysis of peptidyl-tRNAs which have been prematurely terminated and consequently in the recycling of stalled mitochondrial ribosomes. Digression from the normal maturation pathway by neoplastic transformation is assumed to originate in stem cells or their early descendants.

Members of the Interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family regulate gene expression critical to immune response, hemopoiesis, and proliferation. IRF-3 is a member of the IRF family, and is distinct from other family members. Its transcriptional activity is regulated solely by posttranslational modifications. It plays a crucial role in activation of innate immunity and inflammation in response to viral infection. IRF-3 mediates interferon-stimulated response element (isre) promoter activation. Functions as a molecular switch for antiviral activity. Dsrna generated during the course of an viral infection leads to IRF3 phosphorylation on the c-terminal serine/threonine cluster. This induces a conformational change, leading to its dimerization, nuclear localization and association with creb binding protein (crebbp) to form dsrna-activated factor 1 (draf1), a complex which activates the transcription of genes under the control of isre. The complex binds to the ie and prdiii regions on the ifn

GDF10 is a member of the BMP family and the TGF-beta superfamily. GDF10 is expressed in femur, brain, lung, skeletal, muscle, pancreas and testis, and has a role in head formation and possibly multiple roles in skeletal morphogenesis. In humans, GDF10 mRNA is found in the cochlea and lung of fetuses, and in testis, retina, pineal gland, and other neural tissues of adults. The BMP family members are regulators of cell growth and differentiation in both embryonic and adult tissues. These proteins are characterized by a polybasic proteolytic processing site which is cleaved to produce a mature protein containing 7 conserved cysteine residues.

Neurotrophic Receptor Tyrosine Kinase 3 (NTRK3)belongs to the receptor tyrosine kinases family and is a high affinity catalytic receptor of neurotrophin NT-3. NTRK3 mediates multiple effects of this neurotrophic factor, which includes neuronal differentiation and survival. NTRK3 inducesvarious pleiotorpic responses in malignant cells, including enhanced tumor cell invasiveness and chemotoxis.Increased NTRK3 expression was observed in neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, and in neuroectodermal brain tumors.

Odd-Skipped Related Transcription Factor 2, also know as OSR2 belongs to the Odd C2H2-type zinc-finger protein family. OSR2 is a mammalian homolog of the Drosophila odd-skipped family of transcription factors.

IL-22 is a member of the IL-10 family of regulatory cytokines.Members of this family share partial homology in their amino acid sequences, but they are dissimilar in their biological functions. Produced by T lymphocytes, IL-22 inhibits IL-4 production by Th2 cells, and induces acute phase reactants in the liver and pancreas. IL-22 signals through a receptor system consisting of IL-10R-beta/CRF2-4 and IL-22R, both of which are members of the class II cytokine-receptor family.

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.

The FGFs are a family of more than 20 small (~17–26 kDa) secreted peptides. The initial characterization of these proteins focused on their ability to stimulate fibroblast proliferation. This mitogenic activity was mediated through FGF receptors (FGFRs) 1, 2, or 3. A fourth closely related tyrosine kinase receptor (FGFR4) was able to bind the FGFs but did not lead to a mitogenic response.
FGFs modulate cellular activity via at least 5 distinct subfamilies of high-affinity FGF receptors (FGFRs): FGFR-1, -2, -3, and -4, all with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and, except for FGFR-4, multiple splice isoforms, and FGFR-5, which lacks an intracellular kinase domain. There is growing evidence that FGFRs can be important for regulation of glucose and lipid homeostasis. The overexpression of a dominant negative form of FGFR-1 in ? cells leads to diabetes in mice, which thus implies that proper FGF signaling is required for normal ? cell function and glycemia maintenance. FGFR-2 appears to be a key molecule during pancreatic development. Moreover, FGFR-4 has been implicated in cholesterol metabolism and bile acid synthesis.
FGF-19, has been shown to cause resistance to diet-induced obesity and insulin desensitization and to improve insulin, glucose, and lipid profiles in diabetic rodents. Since these effects, at least in part, are mediated through the observed changes in metabolic rates, FGF-19 can be considered as a regulator of energy expenditure.
FGF-21 is preferentially expressed in liver, but an exact knowledge of FGF-21 bioactivity and its mode of action have been lacking to date. FGF-21 is a potent activator of glucose uptake on adipocytes, protects animals from diet-induced obesity when overexpressed in transgenic mice, and lowers blood glucose and triglyceride levels when therapeutically administered to diabetic rodents.

TNFRSF13B (TACI) is a transmembrane receptor protein found predominantly on the surface of B cells (a significant part of the immune system). TACI was at first discovered owing to its ability to interact with calcium-modulator and cyclophilin ligand (CAML). Later on, it was found that TACI plays a key role in humoral immunity by interacting with two members of the TNF family. Also, TACI controls T cell-independent B cell antibody responses, isotype switching, and B cell homeostasis.

Acidic fibroblast growth factor is a member of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family. FGF family members possess broad mitogenic and cell survival activities, and are involved in a variety of biological processes, including embryonic development, cell growth, morphogenesis, tissue repair, tumor growth and invasion. This protein functions as a modifier of endothelial cell migration and proliferation, as well as an angiogenic factor. It acts as a mitogen for a variety of mesoderm- and neuroectoderm-derived cells in vitro, thus is thought to be involved in organogenesis. Three alternatively spliced variants encoding different isoforms have been described. The heparin-binding growth factors are angiogenic agents in vivo and are potent mitogens for a variety of cell types in vitro. There are differences in the tissue distribution and concentration of these 2 growth factors.

FGF8 is part of the fibroblast growth factor family. FGF family members have wide mitogenic and cell survival activities, and participate in a variety of biological processes, including embryonic development, cell growth, morphogenesis, tissue repair, tumor growth and invasion. FGF8 supports androgen and anchorage independent growth of mammary tumor cells. FGF8 over expression increases tumor growth and angiogensis. The adult expression of FGF-8 gene is restricted to testes and ovaries. FGF8 functions as an embryonic epithelial factor. FGF8 takes part in midbrain and limb development, organogenesis, embryo gastrulation and left-right axis determination.

Oncostatin M is a member of a cytokine family that includes leukemia-inhibitory factor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and interleukin 6. This gene encodes a growth regulator which inhibits the proliferation of a number of tumor cell lines. It regulates cytokine production, including IL-6, G-CSF and GM-CSF from endothelial cells.

KGF-2 is a member of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family. FGF family members possess broad mitogenic and cell survival activities, and are involved in a variety of biological processes, including embryonic development, cell growth, morphogenesis, tissue repair, tumor growth and invasion. FGF-10 exhibits mitogenic activity for keratinizing epidermal cells, but essentially no activity for fibroblasts, which is similar to the biological activity of FGF7. Studies of the mouse homolog of suggested that this gene is required for embryonic epidermal morphogenesis including brain development, lung morphogenesis, and initiation of lim bud formation. This gene is also implicated to be a primary factor in the process of wound healing.

IMP2 Inner Mitochondrial Membrane Peptidase-Like (IMMP2L) is implicated in processing the signal peptide sequences, IMMP2L is used to direct mitochondrial proteins to the mitochondria. IMMP2L resides in the mitochondria and is one of the essential proteins for the catalytic activity of the mitochondrial inner membrane peptidase (IMP) complex. Two variants which encode the same protein have been found for IMMP2L.

IGFBP6 plays a role in lipoprotein assembly and dietary cholesterol absorption. in addition to its acyltransferase activity, it may act as a ligase. may provide cholesteryl esters for lipoprotein secretion from hepatocytes and intestinal mucosa.

ECSIT homolog (ECSIT) is a ubiquitously expressed protein which has a vital role as an adaptor protein in the cytosolic signal transduction cascade events triggered by Toll receptor activation. ECSIT promotes proteolytic activation of MAP3K1. ECSIT is also involved in the BMP signaling pathway. ECSIT is essential for normal embryonic development. ECSIT was originally classified as a cytoplasmic protein interacting specifically with TNF receptor associated factor (TRAF)-6 in the TLR pathway. ECSIT gene knockdown results in gravely impaired complex I assembly and disrupted mitochondrial function.

PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB and PDGF-AB, are potent mitogens for a variety of cell types including smooth muscle cells, connective tissue cells, bone and cartilage cells, and some blood cells. The PDGF is stored in platelet alpha-granules and released upon platelet activation. The PDGF is involved in a number of biological processes, including hyperplasia, chemotaxis, embryonic neuron development, and respiratory tubule epithelial cell development. Two distinct signaling receptors used by PDGF have been identified and named PDGFR-alpha and PDGFR-beta. PDGFR-alpha is high-affinity receptor for each of the three PDGF forms. On the other hand, PDGFR-beta interacts with only PDGF-BB and PDGF-AB.

IL-1 alpha is produced by activated macrophages, stimulates thymocyte proliferation by inducing il-2 release, b-cell maturation and proliferation, and fibroblast growth factor activity. IL1A proteins are involved in the inflammatory response, being identified as endogenous pyrogens, and are reported to stimulate the release of prostaglandin from synovial cells.

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.

GPD2 (Mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) is a Ca2+-sensitive, FAD-binding protein, which is located on the outer surface of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Two isoforms have been identified for mGPD: Isoform 1 is comprised of 727 a.a. residues, while isoform 2 lacks 126 a.a. residues of the N-terminus. GPD2 catalyses the oxidation of glycerol-3-phosphate to DHAP (dihydroxyacetone phosphate) with associated reduction of the enzyme-bound FAD. GPD2 is a testis-specific promoter of mitochondrial GPDH. GPD2 along with a cytosolic NAD-linked GPD forms the glycerol phosphate shuttle that uses the interconversion of G-3-P and DHAP to transfer reducing equivalents into mitochondria, which results in the reoxidation of NADH produced during glycolysis.
GPD2 deficiency contributes to the impairment of glucose-stimulated INS discharge in a number of animal models of non-INS dependent diabetes mellitus. GPD2 up-regulation as a result of a highly glycolytic environment contributes to the general increase in ROS generation and may lead to the progression of prostate cancer.

Leukemia Inhibitory Factor also called LIF is a lymphoid factor that promotes long-term maintenance of embryonic stem cells by suppressing spontaneous differentiation. Leukemia Inhibitory Factor has several functions such as cholinergic neuron differentiation, control of stem cell pluripotency, bone & fat metabolism, mitogenesis of factor dependent cell lines & promotion of megakaryocyte production in vivo. Human and mouse LIF exhibit a 78% identity in its amino acid sequence.

SCO2 protein is a member of the SCO1/2 family. SCO1 and SCO2 proteins are found on the inner membrane of the mitochondria and takes a vital part copper insertion or transport to the active site of cytochrome c oxidase (COX). Flaws in SCO2 are the reason for deadly infantile cardioencephalomyopathy with cytochrome c oxidase deficiency (FIC) which is characterized by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and gliosis. Heart and skeletal muscle display declines in cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity, while liver and fibroblasts show mild COX deficiencies.

The somatomedins, or IGFs, comprise a family of peptides that play important roles in mammalian growth and development. IGF1 mediates many of the growth-promoting effects of GH. Early studies showed that GH did not directly stimulate the incorporation of sulfate into cartilage, but rather acted through a serum factor, termed 'sulfation factor,' which later became known as 'somatomedin' (Daughaday et al., 1972). Three main somatomedins have been characterized: somatomedin C (IGF1), somatomedin A (IGF2; MIM 147470), and somatomedin B (MIM 193190) (Rotwein, 1986; Rosenfeld, 2003).