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Trypsin inhibitor SPINK1 is secreted from pancreatic acinar cells into pancreatic fluid. SPINK1 has a role in inhibition of trypsin-catalyzed premature initiation of zymogens in the pancreas and the pancreatic duct. Alterations in SPINK1 gene are the cause for tropical calcific and pancreatitis hereditary pancreatitis.

IL13 is an immunoregulatory cytokine produced primarily by activated Th2 cells. IL-13 is involved in several stages of B-cell maturation and differentiation. It up-regulates CD23 and MHC class II expression, and promotes IgE isotype switching of B cells. This cytokine down-regulates macrophage activity, thereby inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This cytokine is found to be critical to the pathogenesis of allergen-induced asthma but operates through mechanisms independent of IgE and eosinophils. This gene, IL3, IL5, IL4, and CSF2 form a cytokine gene cluster on chromosome 5q, with this gene particularly close to IL4.

Oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein (OMG) is a cell membrane protein which contains 8 leucine-rich repeats. The OMG protein is expressed on the surface of oligodendrocytes and on large projection neurons, including Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, pyramidal cells of the hippocampus, motoneurons of the brainstem and anterior horn cells of the spinal cord. The neurite outgrowth inhibitory activities of all three myelin-derived proteins are mediated by binding to a joint receptor complex consisting of the Nogo receptor and the p75 neurotrophin receptor.

IL17 is a proinflammatory cytokine produced by activated T cells. IL-17 regulates the activities of NF-kappaB and mitogen-activated protein kinases. Interleukin-17 can stimulate the expression of IL6 and cyclooxygenase-2 (PTGS2/COX-2), as well as enhance the production of nitric oxide (NO). High levels of IL-17 are associated with several chronic inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and multiple sclerosis.

IL20 is a cytokine structurally related to interleukin 10 (IL10). IL20 cytokine has been shown to transduce its signal through signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in keratinocytes. A specific receptor for this cytokine is found to be expressed in skin and upregulated dramatically in psoriatic skin, suggesting a role for this protein in epidermal function and psoriasis.

Family With Sequence Similarity 19 Member-A5 (FAM19A5) belongs to the TAFA family which is comprised of 5 highly homologous genes encoding small secreted proteins. These proteins have conserved cysteine residues at fixed positions, and are remotely related to MIP-1alpha, which is a member of the CC-chemokine family. The TAFA proteins are primarily expressed in specific regions of the brain, and are assumed to serve as brain-specific chemokines or neurokines which act as regulators of immune and nervous cells.

TARC cDNA encodes a 94 amino acid precursor protein with a 23 amino acid residue signal peptide that is cleaved off to generate the 71 amino acid residue mature secreted protein. Along with CC chemokine family members, CCL-17 has approximately 24-29% amino acid sequence identity with RANTES, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3 and I-309. TARC is expressed in thymus, and at a lower level in the lung, colon, and small intestine. TARC is in addition transiently expressed in stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Recombinant TARC has been shown to be chemotactic for T cell lines but not monocytes or neutrophils. CCL-17 was recently identified to be a specific functional ligand for CCR4, a receptor that is selectively expressed on T cells. CCL17 is one of quite a few Cys-Cys (CC) cytokine genes clustered on the q arm of chromosome 16. CCL17 shows chemotactic activity for T lymphocytes, but not monocytes or granulocytes. CCL17 binds to chemokine receptors CCR4 and CCR8. This chemokine plays important roles in T cell development in thymus as well as in trafficking and activation of mature T cells.

Podoplanin is a small mucin-like type-1 transmembrane protein, typically expressed in various specialized cell types throughout the body. Podoplanin is a type-I integral membrane glycoprotein with diverse distribution in human tissues. PDPN physiological function is related to its mucin-type character. The homologous protein in other species has been described as a differentiation antigen and influenza-virus receptor.
PDPN is expressed in lymphatic progenitor cells and afterwards during mouse development in lymphatic endothelial cells. Podoplanin is a specific marker for lymph vessel endothelial cells. Over-expression of podoplanin significantly elevates endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and tube formation. Inhibition of Podoplanin expression decreases cell adhesion in human dermal lymphatic endothelial cells. Podoplanin is used as a specific marker for lymphatic endothelium in histopathology.
Podoplanin expression is increased in nearly all human colon, rectum, and small intestine tumors. AGGRUS may serve as a diagnostic marker that distinguishes seminomas, the majority of which over express the protein, from embryonal carcinoma in testicular germ cell tumors.

Murine IL-36a 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. Murine IL-36a is a 160 amino acid intracellular and secreted protein which holds no signal sequence, no prosegment and no potential N-linked glycosylation sites. IL-36a is released as a reaction to LPS and the cell ATP-induced activation of the P2X7 receptor.
Mouse to human, full length IL-36a/IL-1F6 shares 54% aa sequence homology. IL-36a is mostly found in skin and lymphoid tissues, but also in fetal brain, trachea, stomach and intestine.

CAPSL is a calcium-binding protein holding two conserved calcium-binding motifs (EF-hands) which are found in a superfamily of calcium sensors and calcium signal modulators. In addition, the CAPSL gene is in the same linkage disequilibrium (LD) block as the IL7R gene and there is well known association between the CAPSL-IL7R locus and type 1 diabetes.

CD40 belongs to the TNF-receptor super family. CD40 has been found to be vital in mediating a wide range of immune and inflammatory responses including T cell-dependent immunoglobulin classswitching, memory B cell development, and germinal center formation. AT-hook transcription factor AKNA isaccounted to coordinately regulate the expression of CD40 and its ligand, which is significant forhomotypic cell interactions. Adaptor protein TNFR2 interacts with CD40 and functions as a mediator of thesignal transduction. The interaction of CD40 and its ligand is found to be essential for amyloid-beta-inducedmicroglial activation, and therefore is considered to be an early event in Alzheimer disease pathogenesis.

Thiamin pyrophosphokinase 1 (TPK1) is a homodimer which catalyzes the phosphorylation of thiamine to thiamine pyrophosphate. TPK1 is found in the heart, kidney, testis, small intestine and peripheral blood leukocytes, and at very low levels in a variety of tissues. TPK1 gene defects cause the thiamine metabolism dysfunction syndrome type 5, episodic encephalopathy type (THMD5), which is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder due to an inborn error of thiamine metabolism.

Complement Factor Properdin (CFP) which is a plasma glycoprotein, is a positive regulator of the alternative complement pathway of the innate immune system. CFP binds and stabilizes the C3- and C5-convertase enzyme complexes in a feedback loop that eventually ends with formation of the membrane attack complex and lysis of the target cell. Mutations in CFP lead to 2 forms of properdin deficiency that cause high susceptibility to meningococcal infections.

RAC2 is a small signaling G protein/GTPase which is part of the RAS superfamily of small GTP-binding proteins which regulate cell growth, actin cytoskeletal organization, cell proliferation, survival, cell cycle progression, gene transcription rgulation and the activation of protein kinases. RAC2 cycles between an active gtp-bound and inactive gdp-bound state. In active state, RAC2 binds to a variety of effector proteins to regulate cellular responses, such as secretory processes, phagocytose of apoptotic cells and epithelial cell polarization. RAC2 is involved in the regulation of the nadph oxidase.

Histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 2 (HINT2) belongs to the triad proteins, which are nucleotide hydrolases and transferases that act on the alpha-phosphate of ribonucleotides. Hydrolase is most likely involved in steroid biosynthesis, furthermore it might play a role in apoptosis. HINT2 shows high expression in liver and pancreas. Expression is significantly down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

HMGB3 is a member of the high mobility group (HMG) protein superfamily. HMGB3 holds DNA-binding HMG box domains, as do HMG1 and HMG2, and like the rest of the HMG protein superfamily members has a vital part in DNA replication, transcription and nucleosome assembly.

Calreticulin 3 (CALR3) belongs to the calreticulin (CRT) family which consists of calcium binding chaperones that are localized to the endoplasmic reticulum or sarcoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotes. CALR3, which is expressed mainly in testis, takes part in protein-folding, oligomeric assembly and quality control in the ER. CALR3 plays an important role as a cancer-testis antigen due to its frequent expression in many cancers.

Galectin-3 mediates with the alpha-3, beta-1 integrin the stimulation by cspg4 of endothelial cells migration. Galectin-3 plays an necessary part during the acquisition of vasculogenic mimicry and angiogenic properties associated with melanoma progression. LGALS3 overexpression is highly expressed in early stages of papillary carcinoma, and its expression intensity declines during tumor progression. Serum levels of LGALS3 are high in patients with thyroid malignancy but there is considerable overlap in serum LGALS3 concentrations between those with benign and malignant nodular thyroid disease. LGLAS3 takes part as an immune regulator to inhibit T-cell immune responses and promote tumor growth, as a result providing a new mechanism for tumor immune tolerance.

Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein 7 (VAMP7) is a member of the synaptobrevin family. VAMP7 is a transmembrane protein, which is a member of the soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) family. VAMP7 is involved in the targeting and/or fusion of transport vesicles to their target membrane during transport of proteins from the early endosome to the lysosome. VAMP7 localizes to late endosomes and lysosomes and is involved in the fusion of transport vesicles to their target membranes. VAMP7 is essential for heterotypic fusion of late endosomes with lysosomes and homotypic lysosomal fusion. It is also necessary for calcium regulated lysosomal exocytosis. In addition, VAMP7 is involved in the export of chylomicrons from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cis Golgi. Furthermore, VAMP7 is needed for exocytosis of mediators during eosinophil and neutrophil degranulation, and target cell killing by natural killer cells.

MMP-1 (interstitial collagenase) can break down a wide range of substrates including types I, II, III, VII, VIII, and X collagens as well as L-Selectin, pro-TNF, IL-1?, IGFBP-3, IGFBP-5, casein, gelatin, ?1 antitrypsin, myelin basic protein, pro-MMP2 and pro-MMP9. A significant function of MMP-1 is the degradation of fibrillar collagens in extracellular matrix remodeling. MMP-1 is expressed in fibroblasts, keratinocytes, endothelial cells, monocytes and macrophages. MMP1 can be divided into a number of distinct domains: a prodomain which is cleaved on activation, a catalytic domain containing the zinc binding site and a short hinge region with a carboxyl terminal domain. MMP1 is part of a cluster of MMP genes which localize to chromosome 11q22.3.

Human Cu/Zn Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) catalyzes the reaction between superoxide anions and hydrogen to yield molecular oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. SOD protects the cell against dangerous levels of superoxide. SOD binds copper and zinc ions and is 1 of 3 isozymes accountable for destroying free superoxide radicals in the body. The encoded protein neutralizes supercharged oxygen molecules, which can damage cells if their levels are not controlled.

IFN-Omega 1 is a type I IFN, that can be induced by virus-infected leukocytes. Type I IFN family members, which include IFN-alpha, IFN-beta, and IFN-omega, signal through IFNAR-1/IFNAR-2 receptor complex, and wield antiviral and antiproliferative activities. IFNW1 exhibits about 75% sequence homology with IFN-a, and contains 2 conserved disulfide bonds, which are essential for full biological activity.

IL4 is a pleiotropic cytokine produced by activated T cells. IL4 is a ligand for interleukin 4 receptor. The interleukin 4 receptor also binds to IL13, which may contribute to many overlapping functions of this cytokine and IL13. STAT6, a signal transducer and activator of transcription, has been shown to play a central role in mediating the immune regulatory signal of this cytokine. This gene, IL3, IL5, IL13, and CSF2 form a cytokine gene cluster on chromosome 5q, with this gene particularly close to IL13. IL4, IL13 and IL5 are found to be regulated coordinately by several long-range regulatory elements in an over 120 kilobase range on the chromosome. Two alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene encoding distinct isoforms have been reported.

Adenosine Deaminase (ADA), also recognized as ADAT2 is an enzyme that takes part in purine metabolism. ADAT2 is necessary for the breakdown of adenosine from food and for the turnover of nucleic acids in tissues. ADAT2 is involved in the deamination of adenosine-34 to inosine in numerous tRNAs. ADAT2 is part of the cytidine and deoxycytidylate deaminase protein family, ADAT2 employs zinc as a cofactor. ADAT2 is a 191 amino acid enzyme that exists as two isoforms formed by alternative splicing events.