Search results

Endoglin is a type I membrane glycoprotein located on cell surfaces and is part of the TGF beta receptor complex.The Endoglin protein consists of a homodimer of 180 kDA with disulfide links. Endoglin has been found on endothelial cells, activated macrophages, fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, Endoglin has been found to be part of the TGF-beta1 receptor complex. Endoglin thus may be involved in the binding of TGF-beta1, TGF-beta3, activin-A, BMP-2, and BMP-7. Beside TGF-beta signaling endoglin may have other functions. It has been postulated that endoglin is involved in the cytoskeletal organization affecting cell morphology and migration. Endoglin has a role in the development of the cardiovascular system and in vascular remodeling. Endoglin expression is regulated during heart development . Experimental mice without the endoglin gene die due to cardiovascular abnormalities.

Sjogren syndrome/scleroderma autoantigen 1, SSSCA1 is involved in mitosis. SSSCA1 is a centromere-associated protein which can induce anti-centromere antibodies. In addition SSSCA1 is recognized by a subset of anti-centromere antibodies from patients with sclerodermaand Sjogren's syndrome.

Filamin binding LIM protein 1 (FBLIM1) plays a role as an anchoring site for cell-ECM adhesion proteins and filamin-containing actin filaments. FBLIM1 is involved in cell shape spreading and motility. FBLIM1 participates in the regulation of filamin-mediated cross-linking and stabilization of actin filaments. FBLIM1 promotes stimulation of integrins and regulates integrin-mediated cell-cell adhesion.

Progastricsin-C (PGC) is an aspartic proteinase which is synthesized in the gastric mucosa as inactive precursors. PGC is a part of the peptidase family A1 and contains a prosegment which is responsible for stabilizing the inactive form and preventing the entrance of the substrate to the active site. PGC is used as a biomarker for various gastric diseases including Helicobacter pylori related gastritis. PGC is also hydrolyzes various proteins.

M-phase inducer phosphatase 1 (CDC25A) belongs to the CDC25 family of phosphatases. CDC25A is essential for progression from G1 to the S phase of the cell cycle. CDC25A activates the cyclin-dependent kinase CDC2 by eliminating 2 phosphate groups. CDC25A is specifically degraded in reaction to DNA damage, which inhibits cells with chromosomal abnormalities from progressing in the course of cell division. CDC25A is an oncogene, though its exact function in oncogenesis has not been determined.

Endoglin is a type I membrane glycoprotein located on cell surfaces and is part of the TGF beta receptor complex.
The protein consists of a homodimer of 180 kDA with disulfide links. It has been found on endothelial cells, activated macrophages, fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells. Endoglin has been found to be part of the TGF-beta1 receptor complex. It thus may be involved in the binding of TGF-beta1, TGF-beta3, activin-A, BMP-2, and BMP-7. Beside TGF-beta signaling endoglin may have other functions. It has been postulated that endoglin is involved in the cytoskeletal organization affecting cell morphology and migration. Endoglin has a role in the development of the cardiovascular system and in vascular remodeling. Its expression is regulated during heart development . Experimental mice without the endoglin gene die due to cardiovascular abnormalities.

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. Fractalkine gene is located on human chromosome 16 along with some CC chemokines known as CCL17 and CCL22.

HIV-1, the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), contains an RNA genome which produces a chromosomally integrated DNA during the replicative cycle. Activation of HIV-1 gene expression by the transactivator Tat is dependent on an RNA regulatory element (TAR) located downstream of the transcription initiation site. TARDBP is a transcriptional repressor which binds to chromosomally integrated TAR DNA and represses HIV-1 transcription. In addition, TARDBP regulates alternate splicing of the CFTR gene. A similar pseudogene is present on chromosome 20.

Recombinant Human Ubiquitin having the accession number of P62988 was conjugated to Biotin. RPS27A is a small protein composed of 76 amino acids. RPS27A is found only in eukaryotic organisms among which shows strong sequence conservation. The RPS27A protein is present in all cell types, thus giving rise to its name.
RPS27A is found either in free form or conjugated to proteins through a covalent bond between the glycine at the C-terminal end and the side chains of lysine.
The connection of multiple copies of RPS27A targets the proteins for degradation by the 26S proteosome. RPS27A ligation is an ATP-dependent multi-step process. RPS27A is activated by the E1 enzyme. The attachment of RPS27A to the target protein is catalyzed by the E2 enzyme acting in concert with E3 which is involved in the recognition of the substrate protein.

Integrins are heterodimeric integral membrane proteins consisting of an ? chain and a ? chain. CD11b is an I-domain including ? integrin combines with the ? 2 chain (ITGB2) to form a leukocyte-specific integrin referred to as macrophage receptor also called MAC1. The ? M beta 2 integrin is crucial in the adherence of neutrophils and monocytes to stimulated endothelium, and also in the phagocytosis of complement coated particles. Multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.

CD21 is expressed strongly on mature B cells, follicular dentritic cells and weakly on immature thymocytes and T lymphocytes. In B-cell ontogeny, CD21 appears after the pre-B-stage, is maintained during peripheral B-cell development and is lost upon terminal differentiation into plasma cells. CD21 expression is also gradually lost after stimulation of B cells in vitro. CD21 functions as receptor for C3d, C3dg and iC3b Complement components, for EBV and for IFNalpha. CD21 binds to CD23 and associates with CD19, CD81 and Leu13 to form a large signal-transduction complex involved in B cell activation.

Hexarelin stimulates GH secretion. Hexarelin is more resistant to proteolytic degradation than GHRP-6.

Cystatins are a superfamily of cysteine proteinase inhibitors found in both plants and animals. They comprise a group of proteinase inhibitors, widely distributed in tissues and body fluids, and form tight complexes with cysteine proteases such as cathepsin B, H, L and S. Cystatin C, a secreted molecule of this family, is of interest from biochemical, medicine and evolutionary points of view. Cystatin C is increased in patients with malignant diseases, and is related to the insufficiency of renal function and appears to be a better marker than creatinine. On the other hand, low levels of cystatin C involve cause the breakdown of the elastic laminae and subsequently, the atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

GDNF promotes the survival and differentiation of neurons in culture, and is able to prevent apoptosis of motor neurons induced by axotomy. The encoded protein is processed to a mature secreted form that exists as a homodimer. The mature form of the protein is a ligand for the product of the RET (rearranged during transfection) protooncogene. In addition to the transcript encoding GDNF, two additional alternative transcripts encoding distinct proteins, referred to as astrocyte-derived trophic factors, have also been described. Mutations in this gene may be associated with Hirschsprung disease.
GDNF enhances survival and morphological differentiation of neurons and increases their high-affinity uptake.

AXIN1 is a cytoplasmic protein, which contains a regulation of G-protein signaling (RGS) domain and a dishevelled and axin (DIX) domain. Axin1 is has been characterized as a tumor suppressor. In addition, Axin1 has an essential role in the formation of the embryonic neural axis. It has also been reported that Axin is found in mitotic spindles and centrosomes. AXIN1 interacts with adenomatosis polyposis coli, catenin beta-1, glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta, protein phosphate 2, and itself. AXIN1 functions as a negative regulator of the WNT1 signaling pathway and is able to induce apoptosis. Axin can be identified in a mouse mutant strain, created by random integration of a transgene. Mutations in the AXIN1 gene are linked to hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatoblastomas, ovarian endometriod adenocarcinomas, and medullablastomas.

SDF-1 (stromal cell-derived factor-1) is small cytokine belonging to the chemokine family that is officially designated Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12 (CXCL12). It is produced in two forms, SDF-1?/CXCL12a and SDF-1?/CXCL12b, by alternate splicing of the same gene. Chemokines are characterized by the presence of four conserved cysteines, which form two disulfide bonds. The CXCL12 proteins belong to the group of CXC chemokines, whose initial pair of cysteines are separated by one intervening amino acid. CXCL12 is strongly chemotactic for lymphocytes and has been implicated as an important cell co-ordinator during development. During embryogenesis it directs the migration of hematopoietic cells from foetal liver to bone marrow. Mice which were knocked-out for CXCL12 gene were lethal before the birth or within just 1 hour of life. As another role, CXCL12a alters also the electrophysiology of neurons. CXCL12 was shown to be expressend in many tissues in mice (including brain, thymus, heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen and bone marrow).
The receptor for this chemokine is CXCR4, which was previously called fusin. This CXCL12-CXCR4 interaction used to be considered exclusive (unlike for other chemokines and their receptors), but recently it was suggested that CXCL12 is also bound by CXCR7 receptor.
The gene for CXCL12 is located on human chromosome 10. In human and mouse both CXCL12 and CXCR4 show high identity of sequence: 99% and 90%, respectively.

PDGFRa is a cell surface tyrosine kinase receptor for PDGF family members. PDGFRa binds to both A and B subunits of PDGF. It is known that PDGFRa is vital for kidney development since mice heterozygous for the receptor display defective kidney phenotypes.

Thymopentin, also known as TP-5, is a synthetic pentapeptide which is the active site of the naturally occurring hormone thymopoietin with immunomodulating properties (corresponding to the amino acids 32-36 of thymopoietin). Thymopentin enhances the production of thymic T cells and may help restore immunocompetence in immunosuppressed subjects. This agent also augments the effects of ionizing radiation by arresting cancer cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle.

PPIases catalyze the cis-trans isomerization of proline imidic peptide bonds in oligopeptides and accelerate the folding of proteins. Cyclophilin-A is a cyclosporin binding-protein and may play a role in cyclosporin A-mediated immunosuppression. Cyclophilin-A can also interact with several HIV proteins, including p55 gag, Vpr, and capsid protein, and has been shown to be necessary for the formation of infectious HIV virions. Multiple pseudogenes that map to different chromosomes have been reported.

Decorin (DCN) is a small cellular or pericellular matrix proteoglycan which is closely related in structure to biglycan protein. Decorin is a secreted protein which binds to collagen and fibronectin in extracellular matrix. Decorin appears in different glycoforms, substituted with chondroitin sulfate or dermatan sulfate consistent with the original tissue. DCN contains one attached glycosaminoglycan chain. Decorin influences the rate of fibril formation. Decorin is capable of suppressing the growth of various tumor cell lines. DCN gene defects cause corneal dystrophy. The DCN gene is a candidate gene for Marfan syndrome.

DLAT gene encodes component E2 of the multi-enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC). PDC is located in the inner mitochondrial membrane and catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A. The protein product of this gene, dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase, takes acetyl groups created by the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate and transfers them to coenzyme A. Dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase is the antigen for antimitochondrial antibodies which are found in about 95% of patients with the autoimmune liver disease primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). In patients who suffer from this illness, activated T lymphocytes attack and destroy epithelial cells in the bile duct where this protein is abnormally distributed and overexpressed. PBC ultimately leads to cirrhosis and liver failure. Mutations in DLAT are also a cause of pyruvate dehydrogenase E2 deficiency which causes primary lactic acidosis in infancy and early childhood.