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XCL1 is a small cytokine belongs to the XC chemokine family that is also known as lymphotactin. XCL1 is found in high levels in spleen, thymus, intestine and peripheral blood leukocytes, and at lower levels in lung, prostate gland and ovary. Cellular sources for XCL1 include activated thymic and peripheral blood CD8+ T cells. This chemokine attracts T cells. In humans, XCL1 is closely related to XCL2, whose gene is found at the same locus on chromosome 1. XCL1 induces it chemotactic function by binding to a chemokine receptor called XCR1.

Collapsin response mediator proteins (CRMPs) are cytosolic phosphoproteins involved in neuronal differentiation as well as axonal guidance. CRMP2 was previously shown to mediate the repulsive effect of Sema3A on axons and to participate in axonal specification. The X-ray crystal structure of murine CRMP1 was determined at 2.1 resolution and demonstrates that CRMP1 is a bilobed ‘lung-shaped’ protein forming a tetrameric assembly.

Testican-3 (Spock3) is a nervous system-expressed heparan sulfate proteoglycan belonging to a subgroup of the BM-40/SPARC/osteonectin family, whose role of in brain development is unclear. Spock3 inhibits the processing of pro-matrix metalloproteinase 2(MMP-2) by MT1-MMP and MT3-MMP. Spock3 is mostly confined to the developmental stage of the brain.

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.

OTOR proteins is also known as fibrocyte-derived protein (Fdp) and Melanoma inhibitory activity-like (MIAL). Otoraplin is a member of the melanoma-inhibiting activity gene family. Otoraplin is a secreted 16 kDa globular protein that is expressed in the inner ear by periotic mesenchyme and developing and mature fibrocytes. OTOR is highly homologous to MIA/cartilage-derived retinoic acid-sensitive protein (CD-RAP), which is a cartilage-specific protein that is also expressed in malignant melanoma cells. The 111 amino acid mature human otoraplin contains 1 SH3 domain (46 – 107 amino acids) and a Tyr at position 50 that is reportedly sulfated. Otoraplin takes pasrt in the initiation of periotic mesenchyme chondrogenesis.
Otoraplin is secreted through the Golgi apparatus and plays a role in cartilage development and maintenance. A frequent polymorphism in the translation start codon of OTOR can abolish translation and may be associated with forms of deafness.

Grancalcin is calcium-binding protein which is particularly abundant in human neutrophils. GCA is a member of the penta EF-hand (PEF) subfamily of EF-hand proteins, who also comprises calpain, sorcin, peflin, and ALG-2. GCA undergoes essential conformational changes upon binding of calcium, which subsequently exposes hydrophobic amino acid residues, that direct the protein to hydrophobic surfaces. GCA cooperates with L-plastin, a protein known to have actin bundling activity, which suggests that GCA has a part in the regulation of neutrophils adhesion.

SH3-domain GRB2-like 2 (SH3GL2) is a member of the endophilin family. SH3GL2 contains a BAR domain and a SH3 domain. Members of the BAR domain protein superfamily are crucial elements of cellular traffic. Endophilins have a major function in synaptic vesicle endocytosis (SVE), receptor trafficking and apoptosis, and in other processes which require remodeling of the membrane structure. SH3GL2 is a novel tumor suppressor gene in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC), which induces apoptosis of tumor cells by regulating intra-cellular signal transduction networks. SH3GL2 is implicated in synaptic vesicle endocytosis. SH3GL2 is found in the brain, mainly in frontal cortex, and at high level in the fetal cerebellum.

SH3-Domain GRB2-Like 3, also known as SH3GL3, is a part of the endophilin family. SH3GL3 contains 1 BAR domain and 1 SH3 domain and takes part in endocytosis. SH3GL3 is a protein coding gene which drafts proteins with high curvature to membranes.

Transgelin 2 (TAGLN2) is one of the earliest markers of differentiated smooth muscle. TAGLN2 contains a calponin like repeat and a calponin-homology (CH) domain. TAGLN2 is downregulated in some transformed cell lines, indicating that a reduction of transgelin expression may be an early indicator of the onset of transformation. TAGLN2 also binds actin, causing actin fibers to gel within minutes of binding. The binding of transgelin to actin occurs at a ratio of 1:6 actin monomers.

Gastrokine-1 (GKN1) is a member of the gastrokine family. GKN1 has mitogenic activity and is involved in preserving the integrity of the gastric mucosal epithelium. GKN1 is down-regulated in human gastric cancer tissue in comparison to normal gastric mucosa. GKN1 is expressed in the stomach; however no expression is detected in cancer tissue or gastric cancer cell lines.

SNAPIN is involved in the neurotransmitter release process through its modulation of the sequential interactions between the SNAREs and synaptotagmin. SNAPIN is part of the SNARE complex of proteins that is needed for synaptic vesicle docking and fusion. SNAPAP is enriched in neurons and exclusively located on synaptic vesicle membrane protein. SNAPIN is also an important factor of the BLOC1 multisubunit protein complex. BLOC1 is required for normal biogenesis of specialized organelles of the endosomal-lysosomal system, such as melanosomes and platelet dense granules.

Fractalkine soluble form is chemotactic for t-cells and monocytes, but not for neutrophils. Fractalkine membrane-bound form promotes adhesion of those leukocytes to endothelial cells. Fractalkine regulates leukocyte adhesion and migration processes at the endothelium and binds to CX3CR1. Fractalkine gene is located on human chromosome 16 along with some CC chemokines known as CCL17 and CCL22.

LIN7C has a part in establishing and preserving the asymmetric distribution of channels and receptors at the plasma membrane of polarized cells. LIN7C forms membrane-associated multiprotein complexes which regulate distribution and recycling of proteins to the appropriate membrane domains.

IFIH1 is a DEAD box protein which is upregulated in response to treatment with beta-interferon and a protein kinase C-activating compound, mezerein. Irreversible reprogramming of melanomas can be attained by therapy with both these agents; treatment with either agent alone only achieves reversible differentiation. DEAD box proteins are implicated in several cellular processes involving alteration of RNA secondary structure such as translation initiation, nuclear and mitochondrial splicing, and ribosome and spliceosome assembly.

Recombinant Human Sonic Hedgehog is part of a small group of secreted proteins that are vital for development in both vertebrates and invertebrates. 3 mammalian hedgehog genes (sonic, desert, Indian) share about 60% homology. The Human Sonic Hedgehog is 99% homologous to the mouse gene. Sonic HedgeHog is a protein that is vital in guding the early embryo. It has been associated as the major inductive signal in patterning of the ventral neural tube, the anterior-posterior limb axis, and the ventral somites. Sonic HedgeHog binds to the patched receptor, which functions in association with smoothened, to activate the transcription of target genes. In the absence of sonic HedgeHog, patched receptor represses the constitutive signaling activity of smoothened. Sonic HedgeHog also regulates another factor, the gli oncogene. Sonic HedgeHog intercellular signal is essential for a various patterning events during development: signal produced by the notochord that induces ventral cell fate in the neural tube and somites, and the polarizing signal for patterning of the anterior-posterior axis of the developing limb bud. Sonic HedgeHog exhibits both floor plate- and motor neuron-inducing activity. Mutations in a long-range Sonic HedgeHog enhancer located in an intron of the limb region 1 gene result in preaxial polydactyly.

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.

Thymosin is a hormone secreted from the thymus. Its primary function is to stimulate the production of T cells, which are an important part of the immune system. Thymosin also assists in the development of B cells to plasma cells to produce antibodies. The predominant form of thymosin, thymosin b4, is a member of a highly conserved family of actin monomer-sequestering proteins. b-thymosins are the primary regulators of unpolymerized actin, and are essential for maintaining the small cytoplasmic pool of free G-actin monomers required for rapid filament elongation and allowing for the flux of monomers between the thymosin-bound pool and F-actin.

NEFL or Neurofilament light polypeptide is a protein that is encoded through the NEFL gene. NEFL is correlated to a disease called Charcot–Marie–Tooth. The protein’s light subunit is determined by immunoassays in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, if present, it can indicate on axonal damage in neurological diseases. By doing so, NEFL can act as a marker for Huntington's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and multiple sclerosis.

Borrelia belongs to a genus of bacteria of the spirochete phylum. Borrelia causes borreliosis, which is a zoonotic, vector-borne disease transmitted mainly by ticks and some by lice, depending on the species. Of the 36 known species of Borrelia, 12 are distinguished to cause Lyme disease or borreliosis and are transmitted by ticks. The main Borrelia species causing Lyme disease are Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia afzelii, and Borrelia garinii. The Borrelia genus members have a linear chromosome which is about 900 kbp in length as well as an excess of both linear and circular plasmids in the 5-220 kbp size range. The plasmids are atypical, as compared to most bacterial plasmids, since they contain many paralogous sequences, a large number of pseudogenes and, in some cases, essential genes. Moreover, a number of the plasmids have features suggesting that they are prophages.

Crystallins are the main structural proteins of the vertebrate eye lens, where they maintain the transparency and refractive index of the lens. Crystallins are divided into 3 fprotein families, α, β, & γ families. Because lens central fiber cells lose their nuclei during development, these crystallins are prepared and then retained throughout life, making them extremely stable proteins. CRYBB1 is a beta basic group member and undergoes extensive cleavage at its N-terminal extension during lens maturation.

Granzyme-B (GZMB) is essential for target cell lysis in cell-mediated immune responses. GZMB is related to an activation cascade of caspases responsible for apoptosis execution. GZMB cuts caspase-3, -7, -9 and 10 to activate enzymes mediating apoptosis.

Galanin Prepropeptide (GAL) which is localized in brain pathways is involved in both cognition and affect, and also inhibits learning and memory by inhibiting neurotransmitter release and neuronal firing rate. GAL is a part of the galanin family and modulates a variety of physiological processed including cognition/memory, sensory/pain processing, neurotransmitter/hormone secretion, and feeding behavior. Galanin Prepropeptide is upregulated in primary afferent and sympathetic neurones and is required for the development of sympathetic perineuronal baskets subsequent to nerve injury.