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E-cadherin (uvomorulin, cell-CAM120/80) is a calcium dependent cell adhesion molecule expressed predominately in epithelial tissues. It plays an important role in the growth and development of cells via the mechanisms of control of tissue architecture and the maintenance of tissue integrity. Numerous studies have demonstrated that reduction and/or loss of Ecadherin expression in carcinomas correlates positively with the potential of these tumors for invasion and metastasis.

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.

Renin is a highly specific endopeptidase which generates angiotensin I from angiotensinogen in the plasma. angiotensin I is an important regulator of blood pressure and electrolyte balance. Renin initiates a cascade of reactions that produce an elevation of blood pressure and increased sodium retention by the kidney.

Endoglin is a type I membrane glycoprotein located on cell surfaces and is part of the TGF beta receptor complex.The Endoglin protein consists of a homodimer of 180 kDA with disulfide links. Endoglin has been found on endothelial cells, activated macrophages, fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, Endoglin has been found to be part of the TGF-beta1 receptor complex. Endoglin thus may be involved in the binding of TGF-beta1, TGF-beta3, activin-A, BMP-2, and BMP-7. Beside TGF-beta signaling endoglin may have other functions. It has been postulated that endoglin is involved in the cytoskeletal organization affecting cell morphology and migration. Endoglin has a role in the development of the cardiovascular system and in vascular remodeling. Endoglin expression is regulated during heart development . Experimental mice without the endoglin gene die due to cardiovascular abnormalities.

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.

Histrelin is a hormone similar to one normally released from the hypothalamus gland in the brain. Histrelin works by decreasing the amount of estrogen and testosterone in the blood. Suppressing estrogen can cause thinning of the bones or slowing of their growth. Histrelin acetate is a potent LHRH agonist which stimulates LH and FSH release and inhibits the actions of sex steroids on the male and female reproductive tracts. After a transient increase, continuous administration results in down regulation of LH and FSH levels followed by a suppression of ovarian and testicular steroid biosynthesis. Histrelin potency in vivo and in vitro is similar to that of the D-Trp6-containing analog. Especially because of its high water solubility and greater lipophilic character, it appears promising for clinical application.

EEF1A1 is an isoform of the alpha subunit of the elongation factor-1 complex, which is responsible forthe enzymatic release of aminoacyl tRNAs to the ribosome. EEF1A1 is expressed in brain, placenta, lung, liver, kidney, and pancreas, and the other isoform (alpha 2) is expressed in brain, heart and skeletal muscle. EEF1A1 is recognized as an autoantigen in 66% of patients with Felty syndrome. EEF1A1 has multiple copies on numerous chromosomes, part of them, if not all, symbolize different pseudogenes. Among the diseases associated with EEF1A1 are tinea nigra and andcervical cancer.

Eledoisin is an undecapeptide formed in the venom gland of several species of octopuses and is used as a vasodilator and a contraction agent of extravascular smooth muscle.

Clusterin also named Apolipoprotein J (APO-J) is a 75-80 kD disulfide-linked heterodimeric protein containing about 30% of N-linked carbohydrate rich in sialic acid but truncated forms targeted to the nucleus have also been identified.
The precursor polypeptide chain is cleaved proteolytically to remove the 22-mer secretory signal peptide and subsequently between residues 227/228 to generate the a and b chains. These are assembled in anti-parallel to give a heterodimeric molecule in which the cysteine-rich centers are linked by five disulfide bridges and are flanked by two predicted coiled-coil a-helices and three predicted amphipathic a-helices.
Across a broad range of species clusterin shows a high degree of sequence homology ranging from 70% to 80%. It is nearly ubiquitously expressed in most mammalian tissues and can be found in plasma, milk, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and semen.
It is able to bind and form complexes with numerous partners such as immunoglobulins, lipids, bacteria, complement components, paraoxonase, beta amyloid, leptin and others. Clusterin has been ascribed a plethora of functions such as phagocyte recruitment, aggregation induction, complement attack prevention, apoptosis inhibition, membrane remodeling, lipid transport, hormone transport and/or scavenging, matrix metalloproteinase inhibition.
A genuine function of clusterin has not been defined. One tempting hypothesis says that clusterin is an extracellular chaperone protecting cells from stress induced insults caused by degraded and misfolded protein precipitates.
Clusterin is up- or down regulated on the mRNA or protein level in many pathological and clinically relevant situations including cancer, organ regeneration, infection, Alzheimer disease, retinitis pigmentosa, myocardial infarction, renal tubular damage, autoimmunity and others.

Streptavidin is a tetrameric protein secreted by Streptomyces avidinii which binds firmly to biotin. Streptavidin is widely used in molecular biology through its unique high affinity for the vitamin biotin. The dissociation constant (Kd) of the biotin-streptavidin complex is about ~10-15 mol/L. The strong affinity recognition of biotin and biotinylated molecules has made streptavidin one of the most important components in diagnostics and laboratory kits. The streptavidin/biotin system has one of the biggest free energies of association of yet observed for noncovalent binding of a protein and small ligand in aqueous solution (K_assoc = 10**14). The complexes are also extremely stable over a wide range of temperature and pH.

Epidermal growth factor has a profound effect on the differentiation of specific cells in vivo and is a potent mitogenic factor for a variety of cultured cells of both ectodermal and mesodermal origin. The EGF precursor is believed to exist as a membrane-bound molecule which is proteolytically cleaved to generate the 53-amino acid peptide hormone that stimulates cells to divide. EGF stimulates the growth of several epidermal and epithelial tissues in vivo and in vitro and of some fibroblasts in cell culture.

Clusterin also named Apolipoprotein J (APO-J) is a 75-80 kD disulfide-linked heterodimeric protein containing about 30% of N-linked carbohydrate rich in sialic acid but truncated forms targeted to the nucleus have also been identified.
The precursor polypeptide chain is cleaved proteolytically to remove the 22-mer secretory signal peptide and subsequently between residues 227/228 to generate the a and b chains. These are assembled in anti-parallel to give a heterodimeric molecule in which the cysteine-rich centers are linked by five disulfide bridges and are flanked by two predicted coiled-coil a-helices and three predicted amphipathic a-helices.
Across a broad range of species clusterin shows a high degree of sequence homology ranging from 70% to 80%. It is nearly ubiquitously expressed in most mammalian tissues and can be found in plasma, milk, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and semen.
It is able to bind and form complexes with numerous partners such as immunoglobulins, lipids, heparin, bacteria, complement components, paraoxonase, beta amyloid, leptin and others. Clusterin has been ascribed a plethora of functions such as phagocyte recruitment, aggregation induction, complement attack prevention, apoptosis inhibition, membrane remodeling, lipid transport, hormone transport and/or scavenging, matrix metalloproteinase inhibition.
A genuine function of clusterin has not been defined. One tempting hypothesis says that clusterin is an extracellular chaperone protecting cells from stress induced insults caused by degraded and misfolded protein precipitates.
Clusterin is up- or down regulated on the mRNA or protein level in many pathological and clinically relevant situations including cancer, organ regeneration, infection, Alzheimer disease, retinitis pigmentosa, myocardial infarction, renal tubular damage, autoimmunity and others.

Clusterin also named Apolipoprotein J (APO-J) is a 75-80 kD disulfide-linked heterodimeric protein containing about 30% of N-linked carbohydrate rich in sialic acid but truncated forms targeted to the nucleus have also been identified.
The precursor polypeptide chain is cleaved proteolytically to remove the 22-mer secretory signal peptide and subsequently between residues 227/228 to generate the a and b chains. These are assembled in anti-parallel to give a heterodimeric molecule in which the cysteine-rich centers are linked by five disulfide bridges and are flanked by two predicted coiled-coil a-helices and three predicted amphipathic a-helices.
Across a broad range of species clusterin shows a high degree of sequence homology ranging from 70% to 80%. It is nearly ubiquitously expressed in most mammalian tissues and can be found in plasma, milk, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and semen.
It is able to bind and form complexes with numerous partners such as immunoglobulins, lipids, heparin, bacteria, complement components, paraoxonase, beta amyloid, leptin and others. Clusterin has been ascribed a plethora of functions such as phagocyte recruitment, aggregation induction, complement attack prevention, apoptosis inhibition, membrane remodeling, lipid transport, hormone transport and/or scavenging, matrix metalloproteinase inhibition.
A genuine function of clusterin has not been defined. One tempting hypothesis says that clusterin is an extracellular chaperone protecting cells from stress induced insults caused by degraded and misfolded protein precipitates.
Clusterin is up- or down regulated on the mRNA or protein level in many pathological and clinically relevant situations including cancer, organ regeneration, infection, Alzheimer disease, retinitis pigmentosa, myocardial infarction, renal tubular damage, autoimmunity and others.

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.

Ebolavirus (EVD) belongs to the Filoviridae family of proteins which is comprised of a single-strand, non-infectious RNA genome. EVD genome is about 19,000 base pairs long and covers 7 genes in the order 3'-UTR-NP-VP35-VP40-GP-VP30-VP24-L-5'-UTR. There are 4 different ebolaviruses such as: Zaire (EBO-Z), Sudan (EBO-S), Cote d’Ivoire (EBO-CI) and Reston (EBO-R) that differ in amino acid sequence and location of where the gene overlaps. Similar to filoviruses and ebolavirions, EVD is a filamentous element that could appear in 3 forms: shepherd's crook, U shape or a 6 shape. Ebolaviruses may be coiled, toroid, or branched. Most ebolavirions are 80nm wideand 14,000nm long.

Avidin is a tetrameric protein of 4 identical subunits (homotetramer) which can bind to biotin with a high degree of affinity and specificity. The estimated molecular weight of Avidin in its tetrameric form is between 66-69 kDa. Avidin is produced in the oviducts of birds, reptiles and amphibians and is subsequently deposited in the whites of their eggs. In the chicken egg white, avidin makes up roughly 0.05% of total protein (approximately 1.8 mg per egg). 10% of Avidin’s molecular weight is ascribed to carbohydrate content which is composed of 4-5 mannose and 3 N-acetylglucosamine residues. Avidin has at least three distinctive oligosaccharide structural type which are similar in structure and composition. The dissociation constant (KD) of avidin is approximately 10-15M, making it one of the strongest known non-covalent bonds.

Endothelial cells express three different vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors, belonging to the family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). They are named VEGFR-1 (Flt-1), VEGFR-2 (KDR/Flk-1), VEGFR-3 (Flt-4). Their expression is almost exclusively restricted to endothelial cells, but VEGFR-1 can also be found on monocytes. All VEGF-receptors have seven immunoglobulin-like extracellular domains, a single transmembrane region and an intracellular split tyrosine kinase domain. VEGFR-2 has a lower affinity for VEGF than the Flt-1 receptor, but a higher signaling activity. Mitogenic activity in endothelial cells is mainly mediated by VEGFR-2 leading to their proliferation.
Differential splicing of the flt-1 gene leads to the formation of a secreted, soluble variant of VEGFR-1 (sVEGFR-1). No naturally occuring, secreted forms of VEGFR-2 have so far been reported. The binding of VEGF165 to VEGFR-2 is dependent on heparin.

Ectodysplasin A Receptor, also known as EDAR belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. EDAR is a receptor for the soluble ligand ectodysplasin A, and is capable of activating the nuclear factor-kappaB, JNK, as well as caspase-independent cell death pathways. EDAR is necessary for the development of hair, teeth, and other ectodermal derivatives. Furthermore, mutations in EDAR resulted in autosomal dominant and recessive forms of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 11 (CCL11) is a small cytokine belonging to the CC chemokine family that is also known as eotaxin. CCL11 selectively recruits eosinophils by inducing their chemotaxis, and therefore, is implicated in allergic responses. The effects of CCL11 are mediated by its binding to a G-protein-linked receptor known as a chemokine receptor. Chemokine receptors for which CCL11 is a ligand include CCR2, CCR3 and CCR5. The gene for human CCL11 (scya11) is encoded on three exons and is located on chromosome 17.

Transferrin receptor protein 1 (TFRC) is required for iron delivery from transferring to cells. The TFRC protein is a transmembrane glycoprotein comprised of 2 disulfide-linked monomers joined by 2 disulfide bonds. Each monomer will bind one holo-transferrin molecule producing an iron-Tf-TfR complex which enters the cell by endocytosis.

Epidermal growth factor has a profound effect on the differentiation of specific cells in vivo and is a potent mitogenic factor for a variety of cultured cells of both ectodermal and mesodermal origin. The EGF precursor is believed to exist as a membrane-bound molecule which is proteolytically cleaved to generate the 53-amino acid peptide hormone that stimulates cells to divide.
EGF stimulates the growth of various epidermal and epithelial tissues in vivo and in vitro and of some fibroblasts in cell culture.

EIF4E is part of the eukaryotic initiation factor 4 families, controls translation of maternal mRNAs in early embryos before the onset of zygotic transcription. EIF4E identifies and binds to the 7 methyl GTP cap structure of eukaryotic mRNAs, thus modulates the initiation of translation. EIF4E enables ribosome binding by inducing the unwinding of the mRNAs secondary structures.