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IL-18 is a proinflammatory cytokine. This cytokine can induce the IFN-gamma production of T cells. The combination of this cytokine and IL12 has been shown to inhibit IL4 dependent IgE and IgG1 production, and enhance IgG2a production of B cells. IL-18 binding protein (IL18BP) can specifically interact with this cytokine, and thus negatively regulate its biological activity.

IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor-1) is a major hormonal mediator of statural growth. Under regular circumstances, GH (growth hormone) binds to its receptor in the liver, and other tissues, and stimulates the synthesis/secretion of IGF-1. In target tissues, the Type 1 IGF receptor, that is homologous to the insulin receptor, is activated by IGF-1, leading to intracellular signaling which stimulates multiple processes leading to statural growth. IGF-1 metabolic actions are partly directed at stimulating the uptake of glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids so that metabolism supports growing tissues.

Listeriolysin O (aka LLO) is a hemolysin produced by Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, the pathogen responsible for causing listeriosis. The toxin may be regarded as a virulence factor, since it is crucial for the virulence of L. monocytogenes. LLO is a single polypeptide protein encoded by the hlyA gene and composed of 529 residues. LLO is a thiol-activated cholesterol-dependent pore forming toxin protein; therefore, it is activated by reducing agents and inhibited by oxidizing agents. Still, LLO differs from other thiol-activated toxins, as its cytolytic activity is maximized at a pH of 5.5. Inside the acidic phagosomes (average pH ~ 5.9) of cells that have phagocytosed L. monocytogenes, LLO is selectively activated by maximizing activity at a pH of 5.5. Following the phagosome lysis by LLO, the bacterium breaks out into the cytosol, where it is able to grow intracellularly, and the toxin has reduced activity in the more basic cytosol. Thus, LLO permits L. monocytogenes to break out from the phagosomes into the cytosol without harming the plasma membrane of the infected cell, which allows the bacteria to live intracellularly, where they are sheltered from extracellular immune system factors such as the complement system and antibodies. LLO also brings about dephosphorylation of histone H3 and deacetylation of histone H4 in the early phases of infection, before entry of L. monocytogenes into the host cell. The pore-forming activity is not implicated in causing the histone modifications. The modifications of the histones affect the down regulation of genes encoding proteins involved in the inflammatory response. Therefore, LLO may be significant in subverting the host immune response to L. monocytogenes. At its NH2-terminus it possesses a 25 residues long typical signal sequence excited during the secretion process. Moreover, in its NH2-terminus there is also a 19 amino acids PEST- like sequence that may target this toxin for degradation. The PEST-like sequence found in LLO and is considered crucial for virulence, given that mutants lacking the sequence lysed the host cell. Nevertheless, contrary to PEST's supposed role in protein degradation, evidence implies that the PEST-like sequence may control LLO production in the cytosol rather than increase degradation of LLO.

TNFR1 belongs to the TNF-receptor superfamily. TNFR1 is a receptor for TNFSF2/TNF-alpha and homotrimeric TNFSF1/lymphotoxin-alpha.
There are 2 types of soluble TNF receptors: sTNFR-I and sTNFR-II, which act to neutralize the biological activities of TNF alpha and TNF beta. The levels of these soluble receptors seem to increase as a result of shedding of the extracellular domains of the membrane bound receptors. TNF-a, TNFR1 and TNFR2 have roles in cellular differentiation. TNFR1 and TNFR2 function in cell type-specific renal injury.
TNFR1 is capable of signaling both cell survival and apoptosis. TNFR1-induced apoptosis requires 2 sequential signaling complexes. TNFR1 is capable of activating NF-kappaB, mediate apoptosis, and function as a regulator of inflammation. Oxidative stress promotes TNFR1 and TNFR2 self-interaction, ligand-independent and enhanced ligand-dependent TNF signaling. TNFR1 contributes to the induction of non-cytocidal TNF effects including anti-viral state and activation of the acid sphingomyelinase. Human TNFR1 has a major region which controls cell surface expression. High levels of soluble TNF receptors are found in the amniotic fluid of pregnant women.
Germline mutations of the extracellular domains of TNFR1 are linked to the autosomal dominant periodic fever syndrome. The impaired receptor clearance is believed to be a mechanism of the disease. Familial hibernian fever (FHF) is caused by defects in TNFRSF1A gene.

IgG1 Fcplays a role in antigen binding activity and immunoglobulin receptor binding activity. IgG1 Fc takes part in the activation of immune & defensive response. IgG1 Fc takes part in the upstream of immunoglobulin mediated immune response, positive regulation of hypersensitivity & regulation of phagocytosis.

CCL23 (MIP-3) is a ligand for the CCR1chemokine receptor. CCL23 is one of several cytokine genes clustered on the q-arm of chromosome 17, in a locus containing several other CC chemokines. MIP-3 chemoattracts monocytes, resting T-lymphocytes and neutrophils, but not activated lymphocytes. Furthermore, it was shown that MIP-3 inhibits colony formation of bone marrow myeloid immature progenitors. MIP-3 is mainly expressed in lung and liver tissue, but can be also found in bone marrow and placenta, as well as in some cell lines of myeloid origin.
Alternative splicing of the CCL23 gene produces 2 mRNAs which encode a short (CK?8) and a long (CK?81) isoform of the MIP-3. CK?8 cDNA encodes a 120 amino acid residue precursor protein with a putative 21 a.a. residue signal peptide which is cleaved to generate a 99 a.a. residue mature CK?8 (a.a. 22-120). Further N-terminal processing of the 99 a.a. residue variant can produce a 75 a.a. residue CK?8 (a.a. 46-120) which is considerably more active than the 99 a.a. residue variant.
MIP-3 may be involved in the malignant progression of certain human cancer cells which overexpress ErbB2 through the transactivation of ErbB2 tyrosine kinase. MIP-3 may also be involved in angiogenesis via upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase MMP-2 expression.

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.
The three Ig-domain from of inhibitory killer cell Ig-like receptor 1(KIR3DL1, NKB1, nkat3, p70KIR) is a NK cell receptor for polymorphic HLA-B determinant. KIR3DLl recognizes the Bw4 determinant defined by sequence motifs at positions 77-83 of the HLA-B heavy chain. The cytoplasmic tail of KIR, which contains two immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibition motifs (ITIMs), mediates inhibitory signal transduction that prevents killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity. A His-tag fusion protein of KIR3DL1 cytoplasmic tail (361-444aa) was overexpressed as insoluble protein aggregates (inclusion bodies).

The protein encoded by this gene is a cytokine that regulates T and natural killer cell activation and proliferation. This cytokine and interleukine 2 share many biological activities. They are found to bind common hematopoietin receptor subunits, and may compete for the same receptor, and thus negatively regulate each other's activity. The number of CD8+ memory cells is shown to be controlled by a balance between this cytokine and IL2. This cytokine induces the activation of JAK kinases, as well as the phosphorylation and activation of transcription activators STAT3, STAT5, and STAT6. Studies of the mouse counterpart suggested that this cytokine may increase the expression of apoptosis inhibitor BCL2L1/BCL-x(L), possibly through the transcription activation activity of STAT6, and thus prevent apoptosis. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene encoding the same protein have been reported.

IL-9 is a factor which is thought to be a regulator of hematopoiesis. It has been shown to enhance the growth of human mast cells and megakaryoblastic leukemic cells as well as murine helper t-cell clones. IL-9 is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 32-39 that is derived from T-cells, and maps to human chromosome 5.

Human IL-36b belongs to the IL-1 family that includes IL-1b, IL-1a, IL-1ra, IL-18, IL-36ra (IL1F5), IL-36b (IL1F8), IL-36g (IL1F9), IL-37 (IL1F7) and IL-38 (IL-1F10). The IL-1 family members display a 12 b-strand, b-trefoil configuration, and are thought to have ascended from a mutual ancestral gene. IL-36 beta is known to be actively secreted. Cells expressing IL-36 beta include resting and activated monocytes and B cells. The receptor for IL-36 beta is a blend of IL-1 Rrp2 and IL-1 RAcP. Recombinant IL-36 beta stimulates processes involving NF-kB and MAPK in an IL-1 Rrp2-dependent manner.

IL-36gamma belongs to the IL-1 family which includes IL-1b, IL-1a, IL-1ra, IL-18, IL-36 Ra (IL-1F5), IL-36a (IL-1F6), IL-36b (IL-1F8), IL-37 (IL-1F7) and IL-1F10. ). The IL-1 family members display a 12 b-strand, b-trefoil configuration, and are thought to have ascended from a mutual ancestral gene. IL-36g is an 18-22 kDa, 169aa intracellular and secreted protein which holds no signal sequence, no prosegment and no potential N-linked glycosylation sites. Human IL-36g shares 58%- 69% aa sequence homology with mouse, rat, bovine and equine IL-36g, and 23 - 57% aa sequence homology with other family members. The IL-36g receptor is a mixture of IL-1 Rrp2, mostly located in epithelia and keratinocytes, and the extensively expressed IL-1 RAcP. All IL-36 (a, b and g) activate N F-?B and MAPK pathways in an IL-1 Rrp2 dependent reaction. Additionally, IL-36g induces production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines like CXCL8/IL-8.

Resistin, a product of the RSTN gene, is a peptide hormone belongs to the class of cysteine-rich secreted proteins (monomeric peptide contains 11 cysteine residues) referred to as the RELM family, and is also described as ADSF (Adipose Tissue-Specific Secretory Factor) or FIZZ3 (Found in Inflammatory Zone 3). Resistin may be an important link between obesity. 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 suppressed the ability to stimulate glucose uptake. They have also suggested that resistin was present at elevated levels in blood of obese mice, and was down regulated by fasting and by antidiabetic drugs. Way et al., on the other hand, have found that resistin expression is severely suppressed in obesity.
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.

Ara h 1 is a seed storage protein from Arachis hypogaea which causes an allergic reaction in human. Ara h 1 is found in 95% of peanut allergic patients from North America. Nevertheless, peanut-allergic patients of European populations have fewer sensitizations to Ara h 1.

CD14 (also known lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor) is expressed strongly on monocytes and macrophage and weakly on the surface of neutrophils. CD14 is anchored to cells by linkage to glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) and functions as a high affinity receptor for complexes of LPS and LPS binding protein (LBP). Soluble CD14, also binding to LPS, acts at physiological concentration as an LPS agonist and has, at higher concentrations, an LPS antagonizing effect in cell activation. CD14 has been shown to bind apoptotic cells.

GCSF is a cytokine that controls the production, differentiation, and function of granulocytes. The active protein is found extracellularly. Three transcript variants encoding three different isoforms have been found for this gene.
Granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factors are cytokines that act in hematopoiesis by controlling the production, differentiation, and function of 2 related white cell populations of the blood, the granulocytes and the monocytes-macrophages. This csf induces granulocytes.

Lipophilin is a transmembrane proteolipid protein that is the predominant myelin protein present in the central nervous system. PLP functions in myelination. plays a role in the compaction, stabilization, and maintenance of myelin sheaths, as well as in oligodendrocyte development and axonal survival. Mutations associated with PLP gene cause X-linked Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease and spastic paraplegia type 2. Two transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been identified for PLP gene.
PLP is the major myelin protein from the central nervous system and plays an important role in the formation or maintenance of the multilamellar structure of myelin.

A natural cytotoxicity receptor (NCR) NKp46 has been shown to represent a novel NK cell-specific molecule involved in human NK cell activation. The natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCRs) are a recently characterized family of Ig-like activation receptors that appear to be major triggering receptors in tumor cell recognition. The three known NCRs include NKp46 and NKp30, which are expressed on circulating NKcells, and NKp44, which is expressed only on activating NK cells. NKp46 has been implicated in NK cell-mediated lysis of several autologous tumor cells, pathogen-infected cell lines and mononuclear phagocytes infected with an intracellular bacterium. The Lysis of tumor cells by NK-cells involves recognition by NKp46 of heparan sulfate moieties of membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Furthermore, NKp46 is a surface receptor involved in NK-cell cell death by apoptosis. NKp46 has two extracellular Ig-like domains followed by a ~40 residue stalk region, a type I transmembrane domain, and a short cytoplasmic tail. The extracellular Ig-like domain of NKp46 (22-255aa) is purified by FPLC gel-filtration chromatography, after refolding of the isolated inclusion bodies in a redox buffer. In addition, engagement of the antigen with the monoclonal antibody stimulates intracellular calcium levels and the synthesis of cytokines. CD59 is an NKp46 coreceptor (by physical association) together they activate cytotoxicity of human NK-cells, their engagement results in tyrosine phosphorylation of CD3-zeta chains associated with NKp46. Reduced cell surface expression of NKp46 and other NK-cell receptors is linked to the impaired NK-cell cytolytic function in viremic HIV-1 infection.

Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin Receptor (TSLPR) is a member of the type I cytokine receptor family. TSLPR alongside the interleukin 7 receptor (IL7R) activate STAT3, STAT5, and JAK2 pathways, which is regulated processes such as cell proliferation and development of the hematopoietic system. Two transcript variants encoding dissimilar isoforms have been found for this gene. TSLPR is expressed in heart, skeletal muscle, kidney and adult and fetal liver.

Binds to tnfrsf13b/taci and tnfrsf17/bcma. tnfsf13/april binds to the same 2 receptors, together, they form a 2 ligands -2 receptors pathway involved in the stimulation of b- and t-cell function and the regulation of humoral immunity. A third b-cell specific baff-receptor (baffr/br3) promotes the survival of mature b-cells and the b-cell response. B Lymphocyte Stimulator functions as a potent B-cell growth factor in costimulation assays. Administration of BAFF Human recombinant to mice disrupts splenic B-cell and T-cell zones and results in elevated levels of serum immunoglobulin.

Bone Morphogenetic protein-8b (BMP8B) belongs to a family of secreted signaling molecules which can induce ectopic bone growth. BMP8B is known for having a possible bone inductive activity as it is related to BMP5 and BMP7. BMP8B is the osteoinductive factor accountable for epithelial osteogenesis.

ANXA1 is part of the family of Ca(2+)-dependent phospholipid binding proteins which have a Mw between 35kDa-40kDa and are situated on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. ANXA1 protein has a Mw of 40kDa, with phospholipase A2 inhibitory activity to bind from two to four calcium ions with high affinity. Since phospholipase A2 is necessary for the biosynthesis of the potent mediators of inflammation, prostaglandins and leukotrienes, ANXA1 might have potential anti-inflammatory activity. ANXA1 promotes membrane fusion and iplays a role in exocytosis. The recognition of ANXA1 protein by immunocytochemical leads a simple, highly sensitive and specific assay for diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia.

Troponin I (TnI), troponin T (TnT) and troponin C (TnC) form the troponin complex of the thin filaments of striated muscle. TnI is acts as the inhibitory subunit by blocking actin-myosin interactions and thereby mediating striated muscle relaxation. The TnI subfamily contains 3 genes: TnI-skeletal-fast-twitch, TnI-skeletal-slow-twitch, and TnI-cardiac. The TNNI3 gene encodes the TnI-cardiac protein and is exclusively expressed in cardiac muscle tissues. Mutations in the TNNI3 gene cause familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy type 7 (CMH7) and familial restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM).

Recombinant Human Lipocalin-2 also called Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) belongs to a family of lipocans which include 25 proteins (including a1-microglobulin and b-lactoglobulin), which are characterized by their ability to bind small lipophilic substances in their hydrophobic core.
They thereby serve as transporters of substances like retinal, biliverdins & prostaglandins. There are indications that NGAL is involved in modulation of the inflammatory response and is found in the plasma of patients after stroke.