Search results

Glia Maturation Factor-Beta (GMF-Beta) is a 17 kDa protein nerve gorwth factor identified as a growth and differentiation factor in the vertebrate brain.
Glia Maturation Factor-Beta stimulates differentiation of normal neurons as well as glial cells. GMFB inhibits the proliferation of the N-18 neuroblastoma line and the C6 glioma line while promoting their phenotypic expression.
GMF-beta inhances the phenotypic expression of glia & neurons thus inhibits the proliferation of their respective tumors when added to cell culture. Although astrocytes produce GMF-b and stores it inside the cells, they don’t secrete the GMF-B into the cultured medium. Cell- surface GMFb acts on the target cells at close range when cells are in direct contact. GMF-Beta is produced by thymic epithelial cells and plays an important role in T cell development in favor of CD4+ T cells.
GMF-Beta is a brain-specific protein which belongs to the actin-binding proteins (ADF) family. GMF-beta appears to play a role in the differentiation, maintenance, and regeneration of the nervous system. It also supports the progression of certain auto-immune diseases, possibly through its ability to induce the production and secretion of various pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Kallikreins are a subgroup of serine proteases having various physiological functions. Numerous kallikreins are involved in carcinogenesis. Kallikrein-11 (KLK11) which is a multifunctional protease is 1 of the 15 kallikrein subfamily members found in a cluster on chromosome 19. KLK11 cleaves synthetic peptides after arginine but not lysine residues.

Kallikrein-8 is a serine protease which degrades various proteins such as casein, fibrinogen, kininogen, fibronectin and collagen type IV. Kallikrein-8 takes part in the formation and maturation of orphan and small synaptic boutons in the Schaffer-collateral pathway, regulates Schaffer-collateral long-term potentiation in the hippocampus and is essential for memory acquisition and synaptic plasticity. Kallikrein-8 participates in the secondary phase of pathogenesis following spinal cord injury and also takes part in skin desquamation and keratinocyte proliferation.

Growth Differentiation Factor-7 (GDF-7) belongs to the BMP family of TGF-b superfamily proteins. GDF7 elicits its bioactivity via a heterodimeric receptor complex comprised of a type 1 (BMPR-IB) and a type II (BMPR-II or Activin RII) serine/threonine kinase receptor. GDF7 signaling results in the phosphorylation and activation of Smad proteins. GDF-7 is also involved in tendon and ligament formation and repair. In addition, GDF7 regulates bone formation, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, neuronal differentiation, and axon guidance.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a glycoprotein present in fetal digestive-tract tissues; it’s involved in cell adhesion. The production of CEA stops before birth. CEA is called tumor marker since its elevated levels are found in the serum from individuals with colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, lung and breast carcinomas and in heavy smokers.
There are also benign conditions that elevate CEA levels such as smoking, infection, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and some benign tumors (in the equivalent organs which have cancers with elevated CEA). Typically, higher levels of CEA are found in men, smokers, and older individuals.
The presence of CEA assists in screening, in evaluating recurrent or disseminated disease, and in determining the success of surgical removal of malignant tumors.
CEA levels can be used as indicators of treatment success. The normal values range from 0.0 to 2.5 ng/ml of serum (from blood), in non-smokers, a greater amount than that may be suggestive of cancer. Levels above 20 ng/ml before treatment are associated with cancer which has already metastasized. Benign conditions do not usually cause a CEA increase over 10 ng/ml.
The high levels of CEA should return to normal after successful therapy, however if during follow up there’s an elevation in CEA levels it indicates a recurrence of tumor.
Carcinoembryonic antigen family belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily; it consists of 29 genes, 18 of which are normally expressed.

Glycoprotein Nmb (GPNMB) is a member of the PMEL/NMB family. GPNMB is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein which exhibits homology to the pMEL17 precursor, a melanocyte-specific protein. GPNMB is expressed in the lowly metastatic human melanoma cell lines and xenografts but has no expression in the highly metastatic cell lines. GPNMB might be involved in growth delay and reduction of metastatic potential. GPNMB is up-regulated in a number of cancer cells, including in glioblastoma multiforme. GPNMB is expressed in many melanoma cells, as well as in tissue macrophages, including liver Kuppfer cells and lung alveolar macrophages, in podocytes and in some cells of the ciliary body of the eye (at protein level). GPNMB is hardly detectable in the healthy brain.

Melanotan and Melanotan-II are both analogs of the peptide hormone alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone (a-MSH) that tend to induce skin tanning. Unlike Melanotan, Melanotan-II has the additional effect of increasing libido. Melanotan II has aphrodisiac properties.

Stress-Induced Protein SAM22 (Gly m 4.0101) causes an allergic reaction in humans. Gly m 4 is the main soy allergen for patients allergic to birch pollen with soy allergy.

GDF15 is part of the TGF-Beta superfamily that is involved in regulating inflammatory and apoptotic pathways in injured tissues and throughout disease processes. GDF15 is most abundant in the liver. Its expression in liver can be considerably up-regulated in during injury of organs such as liver, kidney, heart and lung. GDF-15 promotes proliferation or growth arrest and differentiation due to differences in cellular differentiation. GDF15 prevents apoptosis in cerebellar granule neurons by activating Akt and inhibiting endogenously active ERK. GDF15 is a novel autocrine/endocrine factor that antagonizes the hypertrophic response and loss of ventricular performance.

Type 1 cystatins are also called stefins which function as intracellular thiol protease inhibitors. Cystatin-B protein is able to form a dimer stabilized by noncovalent forces, inhibiting papain and cathepsins l, h and b. CSTB protein protects proteases leakage from lysosomes. Mutations in Stefin-B gene cause primary defects in patients with progressive myoclonic epilepsy (EPM1), a degenerative disease of the central nervous system. CSTB is overexpressed & elevated in the serum of HCC patients. Cystatin-B in vivo has a polymeric structure which is sensitive to the redox environment. Cystatin-B inhibits bone resorption by down-regulating intracellular cathepsin K activity despite increased osteoclast survival. Protein and mRNA levels of stefin B are significantly lower in atypical benign meningiomas. Stefins-A & Stefin-B which belong to the type-1 Cystatins, are up-regulated in lung tumours and thus able to counteract harmful tumour-associated proteolytic activity. Human stefin-A & Stef

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.

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.

Excess adiposity is the most important risk in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Adipose tissue produces several proteins (adipocytokines) such as leptin, adiponectin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and IL-6, that modulate insulin sensitivity and appear to play an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. However, the mechanisms by which fat tissue induces insulin resistance and the role of adipocytokines in the pathogenesis of T2DM have not been well established. Visfatin, also known as pre-B cell colony-enhancing factor (PBEF), is a cytokine that is highly expressed in visceral fat and was originally isolated as a secreted factor that synergizes with IL-7 and stem cell factors to promote the growth of B cell precursors. Visfatin homologs have been identified in carp, invertebrate mollusks, and bacteria, as well as in vertebrates, including humans and the mouse. It h

Stem cell factor / KIT ligand (SCF) is a cytokine which binds CD117 (c-Kit). SCF is also known as "steel factor" or "c-kit ligand". SCF exists in two forms, cell surface bound SCF and soluble (or free) SCF. Soluble SCF is produced by the cleavage of surface bound SCF by metalloproteases.
SCF is a growth factor important for the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells and other hematopoietic progenitor cells. One of its roles is to change the BFU-E (burst-forming unit-erythroid) cells, which are the earliest erythrocyte precursors in the erythrocytic series, into the CFU-E (colony-forming unit-erythroid).

The heat-shock response is elicited by exposure of cells to thermal and chemical stress and through the activation of HSFs (heat shock factors) results in the elevated expression of heat-shock induced genes. Heat shock factor binding protein-1 (HSBP1), is a 76-amino-acid protein that binds to heat shock factor 1(HSF1), which is a transcription factor involved in the HS response. During HS response, HSF1 undergoes conformational transition from an inert non-DNA-binding monomer to active functional trimers. HSBP1 is nuclear-localized and interacts with the active trimeric state of HSF1 to negatively regulate HSF1 DNA-binding activity. Overexpression of HSBP1 in mammalian cells represses the transactivation activity of HSF1. When overexpressed in C.elegans HSBP1 has severe effects on survival of the animals after thermal and chemical stress consistent with a role of HSBP1 as a negative regulator of heat shock response.

FKBP4 is part of the immunophilin protein family, which takes part in immunoregulation and necessary cellular processes concerning protein folding and trafficking. FKBP4 is a cis-trans prolyl isomerase that connects to the immunosuppressants FK506 and rapamycin. FKBP4 has high structural and functional similarity to FKBP1A, though, FKBP4 does not have immunosuppressant activity when complexed with FK506. FKBP4 is known to connect with phytanoyl-CoA alpha-hydroxylase. FKBP4 associates with HSP90 & HSP70 thus takes part in the intracellular trafficking of hetero-oligomeric forms of the steroid hormone receptors. FKBP4 highly associates with adeno-associated virus type 2 vectors (AAV) resulting in a considerable increase in AAV-mediated transgene expression in human cell lines. FKBP4 is involved in the optimal use of AAV vectors in human gene therapy.

Persephin is a member of the GDNF ligand subfamily of the TGF-beta superfamily. PSPN encourages the existence and growth of key dopaminergic and motor neurons, as well as taking part in kidney development. Nonetheless, persephin does not support existence of peripheral neurons.

AMTN is a member of the amelotin family. AMTN is a lately discovered secreted enamel protein. AMTN mainly expressed during the maturation stage of enamel formation. AMTN gathers in a basal lamina-like structure at the interface between ameloblasts and enamel mineral and it co-localizes with one more lately described enamel protein, odontogenic ameloblast- related protein (ODAM(.

A human infecting coronavirus (viral pneumonia) called 2019 novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV was found in the fish market at the city of Wuhan, Hubei province of China on December 2019.

The 2019-nCoV shares an 87% identity to the 2 bat-derived severe acute respiratory syndrome 2018 SARS-CoV-2 located in Zhoushan of eastern China. 2019-nCoV has an analogous receptor-BD-structure to that of 2018 SARS-CoV, even though there is a.a. diversity so thus the 2019-nCoV might bind to ACE2 receptor protein (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) in humans.

While bats are possibly the host of 2019-nCoV, researchers suspect that animal from the ocean sold at the seafood market was an intermediate host. RSCU analysis proposes that the 2019-nCoV is a recombinant within the viral spike glycoprotein between the bat coronavirus and an unknown coronavirus.

SPARC, an acronym for “secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine”, is also known as osteonectin or BM-40. It is the founding member of a family of secreted matricellular proteins with similar domain structure. The 303 amino acid, 43 kDa protein contains a 17 aa signal sequence, an N-terminal acidic region that binds calcium, a follistatin domain containing Kazal-like sequences, and a C-terminal extracellular calcium (EC) binding domain with two EF-hand motifs. SPARC is produced by fibroblasts, capillary endothelial cells, platelets and macrophages, especially in areas of tissue morphogenesis and remodeling. SPARC shows context-specific effects, but generally inhibits adhesion, spreading and proliferation, and promotes collagen matrix formation. For endothelial cells, SPARC disrupts focal adhesions and binds and sequesters PDGF and VEGF. SPARC is abundantly expressed in bone, where it promotes osteoblast differentiation and inhibits adipogenesis.

Sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is a beta-globulin which specifically binds steroid hormones; it is involved in the transport of sex steroids in plasma. The main site of SHBG synthesis is assumed to be the hepatocytes. The production of SHBG is regulated by androgen/estrogen balance, thyroid hormones, insulin and dietary factors, among others. The concentration of SHBG is a key factor regulating their distribution between protein-bound and free states. SHBG concentration determination is primarily significant in the evaluation of mild disorders of androgen metabolism and it allows detection of women with hirsutism who are likely to react to estrogen therapy. Testosterone/SHBG-ratios correlate well with both measured and calculated values for free testosterone thus aid to distinguish between subjects with excessive androgen activity and normal individuals. SHBG gene polymorphisms are linked with polycystic ovary syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

CA, also known as carbonic anhydrase is an enzyme that functions around the involvement of CO2 + H2O to HCO3- + H+ (conversion of CO2 to bicarbonate & protons). This enzyme holds a Zn ion as part of its active site. The central function of CA is to preserve the acid-base homeostasis within the blood and various organs. carbonic anhydrase assists Carbonic Anhydrase I to move CO2 to and from tissues.

Terlipressin is similar to a naturally occurring hormone present in the body, known as antidiuretic hormone (ADH) or vasopressin. ADH has two main effects in the body. Firstly, it causes narrowing of blood vessels (vasoconstriction), thereby limiting blood flow to a particular area of the body. It also acts on receptors in the kidney to retain water in the body, which helps to prevent excessive loss of water in the urine. Terlipressin is commonly used to stop bleeding of varices in the food pipe (oesophagus). Varices are fragile distended veins that can occur in various parts of the body such as the oesophagus. This is caused by an increase in blood pressure in certain diseases such as severe liver disease. These fragile varices can rupture and lead to life threatening bleeding. Terlipressin is therefore given to narrow blood vessels, and so restricting blood flow to the varices and stopping the bleeding.