Search results

CARD18 belongs to the death-domain-fold superfamily which is induced by proinflammatory stimuli. CARD18 contains basically only a Caspase recruitment domain, inhibits generation of IL-1b by cooperating with caspase-1 and inhibiting connotation with RIP 2. The connotation of CARD18 to caspase-1 is enabled by the charge-charge interactions between the prodomain of caspase-1 and the surface charge of CARD18.

RTN4IP1 is a unique mitochondrial protein that interacts with reticulon 4, which is an effective inhibitor of regeneration ensuing spinal cord injury. The reticulon 4 interaction with mitochondrial proteins may offer insight into the mechanisms for reticulon-induced inhibition of neurite growth.

Secreted Protein Acidic & Rich in Cysteine (SPARC) protein is coded by the SPARC gene in humans. SPARC is a glycoprotein located in bones that binds to calcium. SPARC is produced by fibroblasts, capillary endothelial cells, platelets and macrophages, mainly in areas of tissue morphogenesis and remodelling. Asides from calcium, SPARC can also bind to collagen.

LAIR1 is a glycoprotein (~32kDa) expressed on the surface of the majority of human peripheral blood mononuclear leukocytes including T cells, B cells, NK cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. LAIR-1 functions as an inhibitory receptor in NK cells, T cells and B cells. Inhibitory receptors control the immune response to prevent lysis of cells recognized as self. Lair1 consists of a leader sequence, extracellular domain, transmembrane domain, cytoplasmic region.
LAIR1 is a member of both the immunoglobulin superfamily and the leukocyte-associated inhibitory receptor family. LAIR1 maps to a region of 19q13.4 labeled the leukocyte receptor cluster, which contains at least 29 genes encoding leukocyte-expressed receptors of the immunoglobulin superfamily.

CTK-19 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. Unlike its related family members, this smallest known acidic cytokeratin is not paired with a basic cytokeratin in epithelial cells. It is specifically expressed in the periderm, the transiently superficial layer that envelopes the developing epidermis. The type I cytokeratins are clustered in a region of chromosome 17q12-q21.

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand (CXCL7) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family. It is a protein that is released in large amounts from platelets following their activation. It stimulates various processes including mitogenesis, synthesis of extracellular matrix, glucose metabolism and synthesis of plasminogen activator.

Geminin is a 25 kDa nuclear protein, which inhibits DNA replication and is degraded during the mitotic phase of the cell cycle. Geminin controls replication by binding to the licensing factor Cdt1, and is involved in neural differentiation. In addition, Geminin directly interacts with Six3 and Hox homeodomain proteins during embryogenesis and inhibits their functions. Geminin can also promote DNA replication. Geminin has 2 roles in 2 different stages of the cell cycle: Geminin is a negative regulator of DNA replication during the “S phase” of the cell cycle. Inhibition of Geminin during the “S phase” (by RNAi) results in an additional round of replication of portions of the genome. During the “M phase” of the cell cycle (mitosis) Geminin stabilizes the replication factor Cdt1 promoting DNA replication during the next cell cycle. Moreover, inhibition of Geminin during mitosis (by RNAi) causes destabilization of Cdt1 protein and impairment of DNA replication during the next cell cycle. Geminin thus guarantees that only one round of replication occurs during each cell cycle. It was discovered that Geminin is overexpressed in a number of malignancies and cancer cell lines. This maintains the concept that Geminin has also a positive role in DNA replication and cell cycle progression. Geminin accumulates through S, G2 and M phases of the cell cycle but is absent during the G1 phase. During the metaphase/anaphase transition of mitosis Geminin levels decrease.

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.

FABP6 also called ileal fatty acid binding protein, is part of the small family of highly conserved, cytoplasmic proteins that bind long-chain fatty acids and other hydrophobic ligands. FABP6 cytosolic protein binds bile acid. FABP6 plays a role in fatty acid uptake, transport, and metabolism. FABP6 stimulates gastric acid and pepsinogen secretion. Seems to be able to bind to bile salts and bilirubins. FABP6 expression is restricted in the small intestine to the ileum where it is involved in the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids. Alternate transcription promoters generate 2 transcript variants, encoding a 128 aa and a 177 aa residue protein. Human FABP6 isoform 2 contains 128 amino acid residues and is acetylated on Ala2. FABP6 binds together fatty acids and bile acids and is directly involved in fatty acid transport and metabolism.

Obestatin is a hormone that is produced in the cells lining the stomach and small intestine of several mammals including humans; it drastically reduces appetite in mice and is expected to do the same in humans. Obestatin is a peptide hormone - a relatively small protein. It is encoded by the same gene that also encodes ghrelin, a peptide hormone that increases appetite. The protein produced by that gene breaks into two smaller peptides, ghrelin and obestatin. Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor and is involved in regulating growth hormone release. Ghrelin is derived from a preprohormone called preproghrelin, which also generates a second peptide called obestatin. Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand for the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR39 and is involved in satiety and decreased food intake.

Adenosine deaminase CECR1 isoform (CECR1) belongs to a family of adenosine deaminase-related growth factors. Adenosine deaminase is a key enzyme of purine nucleotide metabolism. CECR1 is a secreted protein, which is expressed in various tissues, with the highest expression in the lymphoblasts, heart, lung, and the placenta.

SIRT6 is part of the sirtuin family of proteins (Class IV), homologs to the yeast Sir2 protein. SIRT6 is characterized by a sirtuin core domain. Yeast sirtuin proteins are recognized by their ability to regulate epigenetic gene silencing and suppress recombination of rDNA. SIRT6, a chromatin-associated protein is involved in DNA repair. Human Sirtuins function as intracellular regulatory proteins with mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase activity.

Native human C3 is a naturally glycosylated polypeptide containing two disulfide-linked chains. C3 is central to the activation of all 3 pathways of complement activation. Initiation of each pathway generates proteolytic enzyme complexes which binds the target surface. These enzymes cleave a peptide bond in C3 releasing the anaphylatoxin C3a and activating C3b. Most of the C3 activated during complement activation never attaches to the surface due to its thioester reaction with water forming fluid phase C3b which is rapidly inactivated by factors H and I forming iC3b. Surface-bound C3b is necessary in all 3 pathways for efficient activation of C5 and formation of C5b-9 complexes that lyse the target cell membrane.

EPO a is a member of the EPO/TPO family and encodes a secreted, glycosylated cytokine composed of four alpha helical bundles. EPO a is found in the plasma and regulates red cell production by promoting erythroid differentiation and initiating hemoglobin synthesis. EPO a also has neuroprotective activity against a variety of potential brain injuries and antiapoptotic functions in several tissue types.

PRDX3 is part of the peroxiredoxin family of antioxidant enzymes, that reduces hydrogen peroxide and alkyl hydroperoxides. PRDX3 is particularly located in the mitochondria and involved in the regulation of cellular redox status by serving as a primary line of defense against H2O2 produced during respiration. PRDX3 is a significant regulator of the abundance of mitochondrial H(2)O(2), which itself promotes apoptosis in cooperation with other mediators of apoptotic signaling. PRDX3 mitochondrial protein is significantly decreased in Alzheimer Disease and Down Syndrome.

Glypican 4, also known as GPC4, is part of a family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPGs) which take part in the control of cell division and growth regulation. GPC4 is broadly expressed in human tissues, including lung, kidney, heart, placenta, skeletal muscle, and pancreas. In addition, GPC4 has been shown to be present in astrocytes, haematopoietic-progenitor and bone-marrow-stromal cells.

Neurexophilin 1 (NXPH1) is a part of the neurexophilin family which encodes a secreted protein with a variable N terminal domain, an extremely conserved, N-glycosylated central domain, a short linker region, and a cysteine-rich Cterminal domain. NXPH1 shapes a very tight complex with alpha neurexins, a group of proteins which promote adhesion among dendrites and axons.

Calmodulin-2 acts as an intracellular calcium sensor protein. When the intracellular Ca2+ concentration increases, calmodulin can bind up to four Ca2+, changing its conformation and regulating cellular functions such as activation or inhibition of a large number of enzymes, ion channels, and receptors. P53 protein stimulates CALM2 gene expression in 041 cells. CALM-2 is involved in the processes of Ca(2+)-induced neuronal cell death and the blockage of calmodulin attenuates brain injury after cerebral ischemia. Calmodulin-2 mediates the control of a large number of enzymes and other proteins by ca(2+). among the enzymes to be stimulated by the calmodulin-ca(2+) complex are a number of protein kinases and phosphatases.

Intein is a section of a protein which can remove itself and return the remaining segment with a peptide bond. In addition, Inteins hold an endonuclease domain which takes part in Intein proliferation. Actually, various genes have unrelated intein-coding segments inserted at altered positions and they were found in all three domains of life (eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea) and in viruses.

RGS10 is a member of the RGS family that regulate molecules which perform as GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) for G alpha subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins. RGS proteins can disengage G protein subunits of the Gi alpha, Go alpha and Gq alpha subtypes. They drive G proteins into their inactive GDP-bound forms. All RGS proteins share a conserved 120-amino acid sequence termed the RGS domain. The nucleus localized RGS10 is associates specifically with the activated forms of the two related G-protein subunits, G-alphai3 and G-alphaz but is unable to cooperate with the structurally and functionally distinct G-alpha subunits.

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).

CPLX1 is part of the SNARE family complex binding proteins that are catalysts or inhibitors of vesicle exocytosis. CPLX1 shows reduced Ca2+-triggered fast neurotransmitter release at hippocampal glutamatergic synapses, indicating that CPLX1 is a positive regulator of transmitter release. In contrast, CPLX1 inhibits SNARE-mediated liposome and cell fusions in vitro, that result in hypothesis thus acts as a fusion clamp of synaptic exocytosis. CPLX1 regulates a late step in synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

Pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) is a secretory protein not normally expressed in healthy pancreas but highly induced during acute pancreatitis. While PAP has been shown to be anti-bacterial and antiapoptotic in vitro, its definitive biological function in vivo is not clear. Using antisepse oligonucleotides, inhibition of PAP expression significantly worsened pancreatitis in a rat model. During pancreatitis, PAP released by the pancreas could mediate lung inflammation through induction of hepatic TNF- alpha expression and subsequent increase in circulating TNF-alpha.
PAP is activated in primary liver cancers. In normal liver, the protein is undetectable in normal mature hepatocytes and found only in some ductular cells, representing potential hepatic progenitor cells. PAP can be considered hepatic cytokine that combines mitogenic and anti-apoptotic functions regarding hepatocytes, and consequently acts as a growth factor in vivo to enhance liver regeneration. In pancreatic cancor, PAP was overexpressed in 79% (30 of 38) of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 19% (7 of 36) of chronic pancreatitis, and 29% (2 of 7) of mucinous cystadenoma. PAP was found in malignant ductular structures in pancreatic carcinomas as well as in benign proliferating ductules and acinar cells in chronic pancreatitis. Elevation of PAP in patients with pancreatic cancer is not merely explainable by concomitant pancreatitis, but seems to be due to increased PAP production by the cancer cells and is also correlated to tumour load as expressed by the UICC stages.
Epithelial expression of PAP was induced under intestinal mucosal inflammation initiated by exposure to commensal bacteria or DSS as well as inflamed IBD colon. Increased serum level of PAP diagnosed ileal location in active Crohn disease with a sensitivity of 60%, a specificity of 94%, a positive predictive value of 84% and a negative predictive value of 81%. Elevated serum PAP (> 50 ng/mL) is significantly associated with disease activity and ileal location of Crohn disease.