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RBP5 is a member of the Retinol-binding proteins family. Estimation of retinol-binding protein is used to determine visceral protein mass in nutritional studies related to health. RBP5 has a higher expression in the adult kidney and liver and to a lesser extent in the adult and fetal spleen, adult lymph nodes and appendix, and fetal liver and kidney. RBP5 expression is strongly decreased in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

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.

RARRES2 is a secreted chemotactic protein that initiates chemotaxis through the ChemR23 G protein-coupled seven-transmembrane domain ligand. RARRES2 is upregulated by the synthetic retinoid tazarotene and found in a vast variety of tissues. RARRES2 acts as an adipokine, and is truncated on both termini from the proprotein. RARRES2 is structurally related to the cathelicidin precursors, cystatin C and kininogens. RARRES2 promotes calcium mobilization and chemotaxis of immature dendritic cells and macrophages. RARRES2 is secreted as a precursor of little biological activity, which requires proteolytic cleavage of its COOH-terminal domain to be exchangeed into a potent and highly specific agonist of ChemR23. RARRES2 signals via its receptor, ChemR23 (CMKLR1), as a positive regulator of adipocyte differentiation and metabolic function. The Chemerin receptor acts as a coreceptor for SIV and some primary HIV-1 strains. The Chemerin receptor has another ligand, called tazarotene-induced gene.

Integrin Beta 3 Binding Protein (ITGB3BP1) is a broadly expressed protein which contains a DD1 or RepD1 domain and an LXXLL motif. ITGB3BP1 functions as a nuclear receptor coactivator while induced by estrogen. ITGB3BP1 is also relates with the CENP-A-CAD complex that is engaged in mitotic progression, the assembly of kinetochore proteins and chromosome segregation. ITGB3BP1 behave s as a transcriptional corepressor via its interaction with the NFKB1 NF-kappa-B subunit by interfering with the transactivation domain of NFKB1.

IL12B is a subunit of interleukin 12 which is a cytokine that acts on T and natural killer cells, and has a broad array of biological activities. Interleukin 12 is a disulfide-linked heterodimer composed of the 40kDa cytokine receptor like subunit encoded by the IL12B gene, and a 35kDa subunit encoded by IL12A. The IL12B cytokine is expressed by activated macrophages which serve as an important inducer of Th1 cells development. The IL12B cytokine has been found to be important for sustaining a sufficient number of memory/effector Th1 cells to mediate long-term protection to an intracellular pathogen. Overexpression of the IL12B gene was observed in the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting a role of the IL12B cytokine in the pathogenesis of the disease. The promoter polymorphism of the IL12B gene has been reported to be linked to the severity of atopic and non-atopic asthma in children.

GDNF promotes the survival and differentiation of neurons in culture, and is able to prevent apoptosis of motor neurons induced by axotomy. The encoded protein is processed to a mature secreted form that exists as a homodimer. The mature form of the protein is a ligand for the product of the RET (rearranged during transfection) protooncogene. In addition to the transcript encoding GDNF, two additional alternative transcripts encoding distinct proteins, referred to as astrocyte-derived trophic factors, have also been described. Mutations in this gene may be associated with Hirschsprung disease.
GDNF enhances survival and morphological differentiation of neurons and increases their high-affinity uptake.

TBCA is a tubulin-folding protein which is involved in the early step of the tubulin folding pathway. TBCA is one of four proteins (cofactors A, D, E, and C) implicated in the pathway directing to properly folded beta-tubulin from folding intermediates. Cofactors A and D are thought to be a factor in capturing and stabilizing beta-tubulin in a quasi-native confirmation. TBCA is crucial for cell viability, if reduced it causes a decrease in the amount of soluble tubulin, alterations in microtubules and G1 cell cycle arrest. Cofactor E attaches to the cofactor D-tubulin complex, afterward, interaction with cofactor C triggers the release of tubulin polypeptides that are committed to the native state.

Interferon Alpha And Beta Receptor or IFNAR1, is part of the class II cytokine receptor family. IFNAR1 forms one of the two chains of a receptor for interferons alpha and beta. IFNAR1 binds and activates the receptor that stimulates Janus protein kinases, which then phosphorylate few proteins, including STAT1 & STAT2. Furthermore, IFNAR1 also acts as an antiviral factor.

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.

Caseine Kinase 1 alpha belongs is a member of the protein kinase superfamily, CK1 Ser/Thr protein kinase family, Casein kinase I subfamily. The CK1 isoforms - alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon and their splice variants are involved in diverse cellular processes including membrane trafficking, circadian rhythm, cell cycle progression, chromosome segregation, apoptosis and cellular differentiation. Possibly CSNK1A1 can phosphorylate a large number of proteins and is involved in Wnt signaling where it phosphorylates CTNNB1 on Ser45. CSNK1A1 also interacts with the Axin complex.

PDGF-BB is a member of the platelet-derived growth factor family. The four members of this family are mitogenic factors for cells of mesenchymal origin and are characterized by a motif of eight cysteines. This gene product can exist either as a homodimer (PDGF-BB) or as a heterodimer with the platelet-derived growth factor alpha polypeptide (PDGF-AB), where the dimers are connected by disulfide bonds. Mutations in this gene are associated with meningioma. Reciprocal translocations between chromosomes 22 and 7, at sites where this gene and that for COL1A1 are located, are associated with a particular type of skin tumor called dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans resulting from unregulated expression of growth factor. Two splice variants have been identified for this gene.

WNT1-inducible-signaling pathway protein 2 (WISP2) belongs to the WNT1 inducible signaling pathway (WISP) protein subfamily, which belongs to the connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) family. The CTGF family members are characterized by 4 conserved cysteine-rich domains: insulin-like growth factor-binding domain, von Willebrand factor type C module, thrombospondin domain and C-terminal cystine knot-like (CT) domain. WISP2 protein lacks the CT domain which is implicated in dimerization binding. WISP2 is possibly involved in bone remodeling. WISP2 is expressed in primary osteoblasts and fibroblasts. WISP2 stimulates osteoblast adhesion and inhibits osteocalcin production. WISP2 expression in colon tumors is reduced while the other 2 WISP members are overexpressed in colon tumors. WISP2 may play an imperative role in modulating bone turnover.

PNPLA2 is an enzyme which catalyzes the first step in the hydrolysis of triglycerides in adipose tissue. Mutations in the PNPLA2 gene are linked to neutral lipid storage disease with myopathy.

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein(C/EBP) g is a family of transcription factors all contain a highly conserved, basic-leucine zipper domain at the C-terminus that is involved in dimerization and DNA binding. C/EBP family of transcription factors regulates viral and cellular CCAAT/enhancer element-mediated transcription. C/EBP family consist of several related proteins, C/EBP a,b,g,d, that form homodimers and/or form heterodimers with each other. C/EBP proteins contain the bZIP region, which is characterized by two motifs in the C-terminal half of the protein; a basic region involved in DNA binding and a leucine zipper motif involved in dimerization. C/EBP g may cooperate with Fos to bind PRE- enhancer elements.

ARL3 (ARFL3) belongs to the ARF-like protein (ARL) subfamily of small GTPases. ARL3 does not activate the cholera toxin ADP-ribosyltranferase contrasting from ARFs. ARL3 is ubiquitously expressed. ARL3 may have a role in maintaining rod photoreceptor cells and regulating microtubule-dependent processes. ARL3 knockdown leads to altered cell morphology, failure of cytokinesis, acetylation of alpha tubulin and an increase in binucleated cells.

SDF-1 (stromal cell-derived factor-1) is small cytokine belonging to the chemokine family that is officially designated Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12 (CXCL12). It is produced in two forms, SDF-1?/CXCL12a and SDF-1?/CXCL12b, by alternate splicing of the same gene. Chemokines are characterized by the presence of four conserved cysteines, which form two disulfide bonds. The CXCL12 proteins belong to the group of CXC chemokines, whose initial pair of cysteines are separated by one intervening amino acid. CXCL12 is strongly chemotactic for lymphocytes and has been implicated as an important cell co-ordinator during development. During embryogenesis it directs the migration of hematopoietic cells from foetal liver to bone marrow. Mice which were knocked-out for CXCL12 gene were lethal before the birth or within just 1 hour of life. As another role, CXCL12a alters also the electrophysiology of neurons. CXCL12 was shown to be expressend in many tissues in mice (including brain, thymus, heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen and bone marrow).
The receptor for this chemokine is CXCR4, which was previously called fusin. This CXCL12-CXCR4 interaction used to be considered exclusive (unlike for other chemokines and their receptors), but recently it was suggested that CXCL12 is also bound by CXCR7 receptor.
The gene for CXCL12 is located on human chromosome 10. In human and mouse both CXCL12 and CXCR4 show high identity of sequence: 99% and 90%, respectively.

Activins are homodimers or heterodimers of the different β subunit isoforms, part of the TGFβ family. Mature Activin A has two 116 amino acids residues βA subunits (βA-βA). Activin displays an extensive variety of biological activities, including mesoderm induction, neural cell differentiation, bone remodelling, haematopoiesis, and reproductive physiology. Activins takes part in the production and regulation of hormones such as FSH, LH, GnRH and ACTH. Cells that are identified to express Activin A include fibroblasts, endothelial cells, hepatocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells, macrophages, keratinocytes, osteoclasts, bone marrow monocytes, prostatic epithelium, neurons, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, Leydig cells, Sertoli cells, and ovarian granulosa cells.

Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is a 32kDa proinflammatory cytokine that may also regulate gene transcription in producer cells. IL-33 is structurally related to IL-1, which induces helper T cells to produce type 2 cytokines and acts through the receptor IL1RL-1 (IL1 receptor-like-1), which is known also as ST2. Binding of IL-33 to this receptor activates NF-kappa-B and MAP kinases and induces in vitro Th2 cells to produce cytokines. In vivo, IL-33 induces expression of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and leads to severe pathological changes in mucosal organs and in vitro, it can be divided to N-terminal fragment of 12kDa and C-terminal fragment of 18kDa by cleavage of caspase-1.

Prolactin is a neuroendocrine hormone synthesized primarily by the pituitary gland but also a variety of other cell types including the placenta, brain and uterus. Its primary function is to promote and maintain lactation but has also been shown to have a role in breast cancer development, regulation of reproductive function and immunoregulation.

HER-2/neu (erbB-2) encodes an 185-kDa orphan receptor tyrosine kinase that is constitutively active as a dimer and displays potent oncogenic activity when overexpressed. Herstatin, as the product of alternative HER-2 transcript, retains intron 8. The herstatin mRNA is expressed in normal human fetal kidney and liver, but is at reduced levels relative to p185HER-2 mRNA in carcinoma cells that contain an amplified HER-2 gene. Herstatin appears to be an inhibitor of p185HER-2, because it disrupts dimers, reduces tyrosine phosphorylation of p185, and inhibits the anchorage-independent growth of transformed cells that overexpress HER-2.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 8 (CD30) is a member of the TNF-receptor superfamily. CD30 is expressed by activated (not by resting) T and B cells. CD30 interacts with TRAF2 and TRAF5 which mediate the signal transduction that leads to the activation of NF-kappaB. CD30 is a positive regulator of apoptosis, and also has been shown to limit the proliferative potential of autoreactive CD8 effector T cells and protect the body against autoimmunity.

Cathepsin D is synthesized as a 54kDa precursor, which is proteolytically processed to an intermediate 48kDa single chain, which matures into more stable 34kDa and 14kDa two chain form. It is an estrogen-regulated lysosomal protease that has been suggested to facilitate cancer cell migration and invasion by digesting the basement membrane, extracellular matrix, and xonnective tissue. Because of its mitogenic and proteolytic activities, it has been implicated as a prognostic marker in many tumor types. Cathepsin D is expressed in epithelial cells as well as in macrophages.

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) is a small cytokine belonging to the CC chemokine family that is also known as monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1). It is found at the site of tooth eruption and bone degradation. In the bone, CCL2 is expressed by mature osteoclasts and osteoblasts and is under the control of nuclear factor ?B (NF?B). CCL2 recruits immune cells, such as monocytes, to sites of tissue injury and infection. This chemokine is produced as a protein precursor containing signal peptide of 23 amino acids and a mature peptide of 76 amino acids. It is a monomeric polypeptide, with a molecular weight of approximately 13kDa. As with many other CC chemokines, CCL2 is located on chromosome 17 in humans. The cell surface receptors that bind CCL2 are CCR2 and CCR5.

ACADS is a tetrameric mitochondrial flavoprotein, which is part of the acyl-CoA dehydrogenase family. ACADS catalyzes the first step of the mitochondrial fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway. Mutations in ACADS have been associated with Short Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency.