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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.

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand (CXCL7) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family. It is a protein that is released in large amounts from platelets following their activation. It stimulates various processes including mitogenesis, synthesis of extracellular matrix, glucose metabolism and synthesis of plasminogen activator.

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 11 (CXCL11) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokinen family. I-TAC is highly expressed in peripheral blood leukocytes, pancreas and liver, with moderate levels in thymus, spleen and lung and low expression levels were in small intestine, placenta and prostate. Gene expression of CXCL11 is strongly induced by IFN-g and IFN-b, and weakly induced by IFN-a. The I-TACchemokine elicits its effects on its target cells by interacting with the cell surface chemokine receptor CXCR3, with a higher affinity than do the other ligands for this receptor, CXCL9 and CXCL10. I-TAC is chemotactic for activated T cells.The CXCL11 gene is located on human chromosome 4 along with many other members of the CXC chemokine family.

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family that is also called macrophage inflammatory protein 2-alpha (MIP2-alpha), Growth-regulated protein beta (Gro-beta) and Gro oncogene-2 (Gro-2). CXCL2 is 90% identical in amino acid sequence as a related chemokine, CXCL1. This chemokine is secreted by monocytes and macrophages and is chemotactic for polymorphonuclear leukocytes and hematopoietic stem cells. The gene for CXCL2 is located on human chromosome 4 in a cluster of other CXC chemokines. CXCL2 mobilizes cells by interacting with a cell surface chemokine receptor called CXCR2.

Integrins are heterodimeric integral membrane proteins composed of an alpha chain and a beta chain. This I-domain containing alpha integrin combines with the beta 2 chain (ITGB2) to form a leukocyte-specific integrin referred to as macrophage receptor 1 ('Mac-1'), or inactivated-C3b (iC3b) receptor 3 ('CR3'). The alpha M beta 2 integrin is important in the adherence of neutrophils and monocytes to stimulated endothelium, and also in the phagocytosis of complement coated particles. Integrin alpha-m/beta-2 is implicated in various adhesive interactions of monocytes, macrophages and granulocytes as well as in mediating the uptake of complement-coated particles. CD-11b is identical with cr-3, the receptor for the ic3b fragment of the third complement component. CD-11b probably recognizes the r-g-d peptide in c3b. Integrin alpha-m/beta-2 is also a receptor for fibrinogen, factor x and icam1. it recognizes p1 and p2 peptides of fibrinogen gamma chain.

Vimentin expression in human malignant glioma cells depends on cellular density, algorithms of drug delivery and chemo/radio treatment. Vimentin and detyrosinated microtubules provide structural support for the extensive microtentacles observed in detached tumor cells and a mechanism to promote successful metastatic spread. Primary colorectal carcinomas display aberrant expression of vimentin, and have activated Notch and TGFbeta signaling pathways. Vimentin is a strong arterial substrate for transglutaminases. Transglutaminase-mediated vimentin dimerization results in a novel unifying pathway by which vasodilatory and remodeling responses may be regulated. Ablation of vimentin expression inhibits migration and invasion of colon and breast cancer cell lines.

FSCN1 is an actin-bundling protein that is responsible for rigidity to filopodial bundles to efficiently push the membrane forward during cytoskeleton remodeling and cell migration. FSCN1 takes part in the gathering of actin filament bundles present in microspikes, membrane ruffles, and stress fibers. FSCN1 is absent from most normal epithelia though is upregulated in multiple forms of human carcinoma, where its expression associates clinically with a poor prognosis. FSCN1 expression is abundantly found in neurons, glial cells, and endothelial cells.

Sjogren syndrome/scleroderma autoantigen 1, SSSCA1 is involved in mitosis. SSSCA1 is a centromere-associated protein which can induce anti-centromere antibodies. In addition SSSCA1 is recognized by a subset of anti-centromere antibodies from patients with sclerodermaand Sjogren's syndrome.

CDHR5, also referred to ascadherin-related family member 5, is a calcium-dependent cell adhesion protein. CDHR5 is located in coated pits, and is expressed during lung and kidney developmentat at the lateral and basal surfaces of epithelia.

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 class switching, memory B cell development, and germinal center formation. AT-hook transcription factor AKNA is accounted to coordinately regulate the expression of CD40 and its ligand, which is significant for homotypic cell interactions. Adaptor protein TNFR2 interacts with CD40 and functions as a mediator of the signal transduction. The interaction of CD40 and its ligand is found to be essential for amyloid-beta-induced microglial activation, and therefore is considered to be an early event in Alzheimer disease pathogenesis.

The 26S proteasome is a multicatalytic proteinase complex with a well ordered structure composed of two complexes- a 20S core and a 19S regulator. PSMD11 is a non-ATPase subunit of the 19S regulator. The 20S core is composed of four rings of 28 non-identical subunits; two rings are composed of 7 alpha subunits and two rings are composed of 7 beta subunits. The 19S regulator is composed of a base that contains six ATPase subunits and two non-ATPase subunits, and a lid that contains up to ten non-ATPase subunits. Proteasomes are spread throughout eukaryotic cells at a high concentration and cleave peptides in an ATP/ubiquitin-dependent process in a non-lysosomal pathway. An indispensable function of a modified proteasome, the immunoproteasome, is the processing of class I MHC peptides.

ANXA5 is a member of the annexin family of calcium-dependent phospholipid binding proteins which are involved in membrane-related activity along exocytotic and endocytotic pathways. ANXA5 is a phospholipase A2 and protein kinase C inhibitory protein with calcium channel properties and takes part in cellular signal transduction, inflammation, growth and differentiation. ANXA5 is an anticoagulant protein that acts as an indirect inhibitor of the thromboplastin-specific complex, which is involved in the blood coagulation cascade. ANXA5 regulates coagulability in the blood stream by binding to phosphatidylserine and sulfatide. ANXA5 protects sinsuoidal endothelial cells from ischemia reperfusion damage. ANXA5 is necessary for normal CFTR chloride channel activity.

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family that is also called macrophage inflammatory protein 2-alpha (MIP2-alpha), Growth-regulated protein beta (Gro-beta) and Gro oncogene-2 (Gro-2). CXCL2 is 90% identical in amino acid sequence as a related chemokine, CXCL1. This chemokine is secreted by monocytes and macrophages and is chemotactic for polymorphonuclear leukocytes and hematopoietic stem cells. The gene for CXCL2 is located on human chromosome 4 in a cluster of other CXC chemokines. CXCL2 mobilizes cells by interacting with a cell surface chemokine receptor called CXCR2.

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 3 (CXCL3) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family that is also known as GRO3 oncogene (GRO3), GRO protein gamma (GROg) and macrophage inflammatory protein-2-beta (MIP2b). CXCL3 controls migration and adhesion of monocytes and mediates it effects on its target cell by interacting with a cell surface chemokine receptor called CXCR2. The gene for CXCL3 is located on chromosome 4 in a cluster of other CXC chemokines.

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.

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 7 (CCL7) is a small cytokine known as a chemokine that was previously called monocyte-specific chemokine 3 (MCP3). Due to CCL7 possessing two adjacent N-terminal cysteine residues in its mature protein, it is classified among the subfamily of chemokines known as CC chemokines. CCL7 specifically attracts monocytes, and regulates macrophage function. It is produced by certain tumor cell lines and by macrophages. This chemokine is located on chromosome 17 in humans, in a large cluster containing many other CC chemokines and is most closely related to CCL2(previously called MCP1).

PLAUR is one of 2 activators which convert the extracellular zymogen plasminogen to plasmin, a serine protease involved in a various normal and pathological processes that require cell migration and/or tissue destruction. PLAUR protein is synthesized and released from cells as a single-chain proenzyme with narrow enzymatic activity and is converted to an active two-chain disulfide-linked active enzyme by plasmin and other specific proteinases.

HEPACAM2 is necessary during prometaphase for centrosome maturation. Following poly-ADP-ribosylation (PARsylation) by TNKS, HEPACAM2 translocates from the Golgi apparatus to mitotic centrosomes and takes a significant part in the formation of robust microtubules for quick movement of chromosomes.

C-JUN is a gene which, in combination with c-Fos, forms the AP-1early response transcription factor. C-JUN is activated by the JNKpathway. C-JUN is the putative transforming gene of avian sarcoma virus 17. C-JUN is a protein which is highly similar to the viral protein, and which interacts directly with specific target DNA sequences to regulate gene expression. The C-JUN gene is intronless and is mapped to 1p32-p31, a chromosomal region involved in both translocations and deletions in human malignancies.

MGAT2 is an enzyme which takes part in the catalyzation of a crucial step in the reaction of oligomannose which converts to complex N-glycans. MGAT2 has three domains, classic to glycosyltransferase: short N-terminal cytoplasmic domain, a C-terminal catalytic domain and hydrophobic non-cleavable signal-anchor domain. The enzyme MGAT2 is encoded by the MGAT2 gene in humans. There are no introns in the DNA coding the gene, therefore mutations in the MGAT2 will result in carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome, type II.

Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (ARC) takes part in the regulation of cell morphology and cytoskeletal organization and is required for consolidation of synaptic plasticity as well as formation of long-term memory. ARC regulates endocytosis of AMPA receptors in response to synaptic activity and is also required for homeostatic synaptic scaling of AMPA receptors. ARC is required in the stress fiber dynamics and cell migration.

SIL1 is localized to endoplasmic reticulum (ER). SIL1 is an N-linked glycoprotein with an N-terminal ER targeting sequence, 2 putative N-glycosylation sites, and a C-terminal ER retention signal. SIL1 acts as a nucleotide exchange factor for another unfolded protein response protein. Mutations in SIL1 are linked to Marinesco-Sjogren syndrome.

OX40 Ligandis a part of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)receptor family. OX40L receptor is OX40 which is expressed predominantly on activated CD4+ T cells.OX40 Ligandis expressed on various antigen-presenting cells such asmacrophages, DC2sand activated Blymphocytes. Expression of OX40 is momentary following engagement of T cell receptors. The ligation of OX40-OX40L stimulates proliferation anddifferentiation of activated B cells,increases immunoglobulin secretion and is also a sourceof survival signal for T cells and enables the development of memory T cells.