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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.

CD72 antigen is a member of the type II integral membrane glycoproteins which includes other related cell surface moleculaes such as the asialoglycoprotein receptors, CD23 and the Kupffer cell recpeotr. The exposure of B cells to CD72 antibodies activates a variety of signalling pathways and can induce MHC class II expression and B cell proliferation. CD72 antigen is expressed on all cells of B cell lineage with the exception of plasma cells and weakly on human tissue macrophages.

Membrane-bound & Cytosolic forms of GST are encoded by 2 separate supergene families. These enzymes function in the detoxification of electrophilic compounds, including carcinogens, therapeutic drugs, environmental toxins and products of oxidative stress, by conjugation with glutathione. There are 8 different classes of soluble cytoplasmic mammalian GST: alpha, kappa, mu, omega, pi, sigma, theta and zeta. The GSTA1 is found in a cluster mapped to chromosome 6, and is highly expressed in the liver. GSTA1 protects the cells from reactive oxygen species.

T-cell antigen CD7 (CD7) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein which is expressed on pluripotential hemapoietic cells, nearly all human thymocytes and some peripheral blood T cells. The CD7 molecule is missing in a subset of human T cells under some physiologic conditions. An increase in CD7 negative T cells can be observed in a number of inflammatory skin diseases.

Prolactin is a lactogenic hormone secreted by the adenohypophysis .Besides its major action on lactation, in some species prolactin exerts effects on reproduction, maternal behavior, fat metabolism, immunomodulation and osmoregulation.Prolactin has been shown also to have cytokine-like activities and to have important immunoregulatory activities. It contributes to the development of lymphoid tissues and the maintenance of physiological immune function and also modulates a variety of T-cell immune responses. Prolactin has been reported to activate cellular proliferation in nonreproductive tissue, such as liver, spleen, and thymus. It induces significant proliferation in aortic smooth muscle cells and also enhances proliferation of these cells induced by PDGF . Prolactin also appears to be directly mitogenic for pancreatic beta cells. Prolactin is also mitogenic for cultured astrocytes.

Glutathione S-transferase A4 (GSTA4) is a member of the GST superfamily. The GSTA4 enzyme is involved in cellular defense against toxic, carcinogenic, and pharmacologically active electrophilic compounds. GSTA4 shows an especially high activity with reactive carbonyl compounds such as alk-2-enals. GSTA4 is extremely effective in catalyzing the conjugate addition of reduced glutathione to 4-hydroxynonenal, which is an important product of peroxidative degradation of arachidonic acid and a frequently used biomarker for oxidative damage in tissue. The GSTA4 enzyme is expressed at a high level in the brain, placenta, and skeletal muscle and much lower in the lung and liver.

RANKL binds to tnfrsf11b/opg and to tnfrsf11a/rank. Osteoclast differentiation and activation factor. Augments the ability of dendritic cells to stimulate naive t-cell proliferation. May be an important regulator of interactions between t-cells and dendritic cells and may play a role in the regulation of the t-cell-dependent immune response. sRANKL may also play an important role in enhanced bone-resorption in humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy. By injecting soluble RANKL, novel osteopenia model mice were established in only 50 hours. Degree of bone loss can be controlled by changing doses of sRANKL. RANKL can be used in establishing osteopenia model for in vivo screening of drugs for osteoporosis, determination of effect and mechanism, evaluation of bone anabolic drugs.

Lassa virus, which is a member of the Arenaviridae virus family, causes acute viral hemorrhagic fever. It was first reported in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria. Natal multimammate mouse is the primary reservoir of Lassa virus, found in sub-Saharan Africa. The virus is transmitted by contact with the feces or urine of animals, contributing to its high rate of incidence. Lassa fever occurs generally in West Africa. Lassa fever results in 300,000 to 500,000 cases annually and causes about 5,000 deaths each year. Outbreaks of this disease have been observed in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Central African Republic. Protein structure: Lassa virus genome is comprised of two single-stranded RNA molecules defined as small (S) and large (L). Two genes on the S segment encode the nucleoprotein (NP) and two envelope glycoproteins (GP1 and GP2); while, the L segment encodes the viral polymerase (L protein) and RING finger Z matrix protein. GP1 subunit serves a putative role in receptor binding, while the structure of GP2 subunit is consistent with viral transmembrane fusion proteins. NP is a virion protein which binds and protects the viral RNA.

Trichomonas vaginalis, an anaerobic, flagellated protozoan parasite, is most dominant protozoan causing sexual transmitted disease. T. vaginalis induced vaginal tract infection occurs as multiple steps involving interactions between host macromolecules and protozoan virulent factor. Adhension protein P65 of T. vaginalis has a vital part in assisting the penetration into vaginal tract surface.

Connective Tissue Growth Factor belongs to the CCN family of proteins. The CCN family presently consists of six members in human also known as: Cyr61 (Cystein rich 61), CTGF (Connective Tissue Growth Factor), Nov (Nephroblastoma Overexpressed gene), WISP-1, 2 and 3 (Wnt-1 Induced Secreted Proteins). The CCN genes encode secreted proteins associated with the Extracellular Matrix (ECM) and cell membrane.
CCN proteins are matricellular proteins which are involved in the regulation of various cellular functions including: proliferation, differentiation, survival, adhesion and migration. They are expressed in derivatives of the three embryonic sheets and are implicated in the development of kidney, nervous system, muscle, bone marrow, cartilage and bone. During adulthood, they are implicated in wound healing, bone fracture repair, and pathologies such as: fibrosis, vascular ailments and tumorigenesis.
Full length secreted CCN proteins can show an antiproliferative activity, whereas truncated isoforms are likely to stimulate proliferation and behave as oncogenes.
The full length protein consists of four modules: Module I shares partial identity with the N-terminal part of the Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Proteins (IGFBPs).
Module II includes a stretch of 70amino acid residues – which shares sequence identity with the Von Willebrand Factor Type C repeat (VWC).
Module III contains sequences sharing identity with the Thrombospondin type 1 repeat (TSP1) (WSXCSXXCG), which is thought to be implicated in the binding of sulfated glycoconjugates and to be important for cell adhesion.
Module IV, also designated CT, is encoded by exon5. It is the leasts conserved one of the four domains at the level of nucleotide sequence, but it appears to be critical for several of the biological functions attributed to the CCN proteins. Module IV resembles the CT domain of several extracellular protein including, Von Willebrand's factor and mucins. Sequence similarities to heparin-binding motifs are also found within this domain.
Proteolysis of the secreted full-length CCN proteins that has been reported in the case of CCN2 and CCN3 might result in the production of CCN-derived peptides with high affinity for ligands that full-length CNN proteins bind only poorly. Amino-truncated CCN2 isoforms were biologically active whereas no specific biological activity has been attributed to the truncated CCN3. Although the molecular processes underlying the production of these secreted isoforms is presently unknown, it is important to note that proteolysis occur at the same amino acid residues in both CCN2 and CCN3. An elevated expression of CCN2 has also been detected by Northern blotting in human invasive mammary ductal carcinomas, dermatofibromas, pyogenic granuloma, endothelial cells of angiolipomas and angioleiomyomas, and in pancreatic tumors. A study performed with chondrosarcomas representative of various histological grades established that CCN2 expression was closely correlated with increasing levels of malignancy.
In agreement with CCN2 playing a role in brain tumor angiogenesis, immunocytochemistry studies indicated that both glioblastoma tumor cells and proliferating endothelial cells stained positive for CCN2. In astrocytomas, CCN2 expression was particularly elevated in high grade tumors, with a marked effect of CCN2 on cell proliferation. Downregulation of CCN2 expression in these cells was associated with a growth arrest at the G1/S transition while over-expression of CCN2 induced a two-fold increase of the number of cells in the G1 phase. Gene profiling analysis allowed to identify a set of about 50 genes whose expression might account for the proliferative activity of CCN2 in these cells.
CCN2 was seen in a higher proportion of mononuclear cells of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Cellular nucleic acid-binding protein (CNBP) is a nucleic-acid binding protein with seven zinc-finger domains, which has a preference for binding single stranded DNA and RNA. CNBP serves in cap-independent translation of ornithine decarboxylase mRNA, and also in sterol-mediated transcriptional regulation. The expansion of A CCTG in CNBP protein’s first intron results in myotonic dystrophy type 2.

Conglutin, also known as Ara h 6.0101 is a part of the 2S albumin protein family. Conglutin along with Ara h 2.0201 are considered as some of the most potent elicitors of anaphylaxis. Both proteins hold multiple disulphide-bridged cysteine residues, resulting in a tightly coiled, heat-stable, protease resistant core structure. Conglutin causes an allergic reaction in human and binds to IgE.

GM-CSF Receptor Alpha (CSF2RA) is the alpha subunit of the heterodimeric receptor for colony stimulating factor 2, a cytokine which controls the production, differentiation, and function of granulocytes and macrophages. CSFR2 is also a member of the cytokine family of receptors. In addition, this gene is found in the pseudoautosomal region (PAR) of the X and Y chromosomes. Multiple transcript variants encoding various isoforms have been found for this gene, while some of the isoforms being membrane-bound and others being soluble. Diseases associated with CSF2RA include surfactant metabolism dysfunction, pulmonary 4, and csf2ra-related pulmonary surfactant metabolism dysfunction.

MMAB protein catalyzes the last step in the conversion of vitamin B(12) into adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl), a vitamin B12 containing coenzyme for methylmalonyl-CoA mutase(MCM). Decreased MMAB activity leads to the inherited disorder vitamin B12 dependent methylmalonic aciduria linked to the cblB complementation group.

Mercaptopyruvate Sulfurtransferase (MPST) catalyzes the transfer of a sulfur ion from 3-mercaptopyruvate to cyanide or other thiol compounds. MPST might be involved in cysteine degradation and cyanide detoxification. The MPST enzyme is regulated by oxidative stress and thioredoxin. In oxidative stress conditions, the catalytic cysteine site is transformed to a sulfenate which inhibits the MPST enzyme activity. The reduced thioredoxin cleaves an intersubunit disulfide bond to activate the redox switch and reactivate the enzyme. A deficiency in MPST activity is implicated in a rare inheritable condition known as MCDU (mercaptolactate-cysteine disulfiduria).

CD79B is a 36 kDa trans membrane glycoprotein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily. Heterodimers of CD79A and CD79B connect with a membrane attached immunoglobulin on the B cell surface to create the B cell antigen receptor complex (BCR). CD79A and CD79B are essential for BCR-mediated signaling and subsequently for the development and activation of B lineage cells.

Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) was first characterized as a growth factor that supports the in-vitro colony formation of granulocytes-macrophages progenitor cells. It is a pleiotropic cytokine and a member of a family of endogenous cytokines of the hematopoietic system. GM-CSF is produced as a response to immune or inflammatory stimuli by activated cells of the hematopoietic system such as T cells, B cells, macrophages, mast cells and also fibroblasts and alveolar epithelial cells. It plays an important role in regulating the proliferation, differentiation, survival and activation of hematopoietic cells such as granulocytes and monocytes ,neutrophiles, basophiles and eosonophoiles, erythroid cells, megakaryocytes and T cells.
Human and mouse GM-CSF have about 56% homology and are species specific. Human GM-CSF is not active on mouse cells and vice versa. It is active on canine and feline cells.
GMCSF is 144 amino acids, 22kDa glycoprotein. It is composed of four bundles alpha helices. Its receptor is heterodimers with a ligand-specific alpha subunit and a betac subunit that is shared with the interleukin IL-3 and IL-5 receptors. This unusual form of receptor assembly likely applies also to IL-3 and IL-5 receptors. Cross-linking the two receptor subunits is required for receptor activation and signaling .
GMCSF has been shown to be involved in maturation, mobilization and antigen presentation of myeloid dentritic cells (DCs) in-vivo or ex-vivo. This function promotes Th1 immune responses, cytotoxcity, anti-angiogenesis as well as allergic inflammation, and the development of autoimmunity. Therefore GMCSF can be used in immunotherapy for the treatment of immune suppressed and immune-compromised patients as well as in veterinary medicine for the same purpose. GM-CSF is also important in regulation of embryo development and pregnancy and specifically in embryo implantation and subsequent development .

Chromgranin-A is part of the neuroendocrine secretory protein family. CHGA is located in secretory vesicles of neurons and endocrine cells. Chromgranin-A is a precursor to three biologically active peptides; vasostatin, pancreastatin, and parastatin. These peptides act as autocrine or paracrine negative modulators of the neuroendocrine system. Other peptides, including chromostatin, beta-granin, WE-14 and GE-25, are also derived from the full-length protein. Chromgranin-A has numerous biological activities on some tissues and organs and exerts a large spectrum of homeostatic actions, including antifungal and antimicrobial effect, modulation of cell adhesion, and inhibition of parathyroid hormone secretion.

GNMT is an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of S-adenosyl-L-methionine with glycine to S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine. GNMT is located in the cytoplasm and acts as a homotetramer. Defects in the GNMT gene causes of GNMT deficiency (hypermethioninemia). GNMT affects DNA methylation by regulating the ratio of S-adenosylmethionine to S-adenosylhomocystine and is involved in the detoxification pathway in liver cells. GNMT expression is diminished in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). GNMT catalyzes the methylation of glycine by using s- adenosylmethionine (adomet) to form n-methylglycine with the concomitant production of s-adenosylhomocysteine (adohcy). GNMT plays an essential role in the regulation of tissue concentration of adomet and of metabolism of methionine.

AHSG (fetuin-A) which is a glycoprotein present in the serum, is synthesized by hepatocytes. AHSG is one of the fetuin class of plasma binding proteins. It is involved in a number of functions, such as endocytosis, brain development and the formation of bone tissue. It is usually present in the cortical plate of the immature cerebral cortex and bone marrow hemopoietic matrix, hence it has been postulated that it participates in the development of the tissues. Yet, its exact significance is still vague. AHSG promotes endocytosis, hold opsonic properties and influences the mineral phase of the bone. Affinity for calcium and barium ions has been shown.

EGF Domain-Specific O-Linked N-Acetylglucosamine Transferase (EOGT) takes part in the regulation of Notch receptor. EOGT catalyzes the transfer of a single N-acetylglucosamine from UDP-GlcNAc to a serine/ threonine residue in extracellular proteins resulting in their modification with a beta-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc). EOGT mainly glycosylates the Thr residue positioned between the fifth and sixth conserved cysteines of folded EGF-like domains.

Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor is a growth factor and/or cytokine produced by the endothelium, macrophages and a number of other immune cells. GCSF stimulates the bone marrow to produce granulocytes and also to stimulate the survival, proliferation, differentiation and function of neutrophil granulocyte progenator cells and mature neutrophils.

Tyrosylprotein Sulfotransferase 2 (TPST2) is a member of the protein sulfotransferase family. TPST2 is a widely expressed protein, which catalyzes the O-sulfation of tyrosine residues within acidic regions of proteins. The TPST2 protein is a type II integral membrane protein located in the Golgi body.