Antibody News

IRAK4, also known as Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4, is a serine/threonine-protein kinase that plays a critical role in initiating innate and adaptive immune responses against foreign pathogens. It activates NF-kappaB in both Toll-like receptor (TLR) and T-cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathways.

IRAK-4 belongs to a family of mammalian IRAKs that include IRAK-1 [11], IRAK-2 [12], and IRAK-M, also known as IRAK-3 [13]. Out of the four members in the mammalian IRAK family, IRAK-4 is considered to be the “master IRAK”, the only family member indispensable for IL-1R/TLR signaling. In humans, mutations resulting in IRAK-4 deficiency have been linked to susceptibility to bacterial infections, especially recurrent pyogenic bacterial infections. Though characterized functionally as a serine/threonine kinase, the crystal structures revealed that...

LYVE1 (lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1) is one of the most specific and widely used mammalian lymphatic endothelial markers.It is found in lymph nodes and at the luminal/abluminal surfaces of lymphatic vessels. It is a single-pass type I membrane protein that exists in a disulfide-linked homodimer form. LYVE1 undergoes ligand-dependent internalization and recycling at the cell surface, and exhibits ligand-specific transporter trafficking between intracellular organelles and the plasma membrane. It plays a key role in the autocrine regulation of cell growth mediated by growth. LYVE1 also behaves as hyaluronan transporter, either mediating its uptake for catabolism within lymphatic endothelial cells themselves, or its transport into the lumen of afferent lymphatic vessels for subsequent re-uptake and degradation in lymph nodes. A group at ImClone employed the LYVE1 antibody in their...

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a eukaryotic cell mechanism that copes with ER stress and is initiated by three ER-localized sensors: PKR-like ER kinase (PERK), activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), and inositol-requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1 alpha). The UPR-responsive downstream signaling is regulated through the ATF6 and IRE1-XBP1 pathways. UPR serves three important mechanisms: inhibiting protein translation to restore normal cell function; increasing production of protein folding-involved chaperones; and activating misfolded protein ubiquitination for targeting and degradation. When the ER-stress is not appropriately relieved, UPR leads to the fail-safe of apoptosis. IRE1 alpha is a single-pass type I membrane protein within the ER membrane, and is ubiquitously expressed, with high levels particularly in the pancreas. It exhibits autophosphorylation and under ER stress conditions, is ADP-ribosylated by...

LOX is a copper-dependent amine oxidase enzyme that executes post-translational oxidative deamination on peptidyl lysine residues in precursors of fibrous collagen and elastin. LOX is secreted into the extracellular environment in an inactive form, where it is processed into an active form. Its activity is crucial for maintaining both the tensile and elastic properties of connective tissue residing within skeletal, pulmonary, and cardiovascular systems. Furthermore, its expression is highly regulated during normal development and uncontrolled expression or activity has been documented in a wide range of predominantly ECM diseases.  These diseases include, but are not limited to, myocardial ischemia/heart failure, atherosclerosis, scleroderma, liver cirrhosis, glaucoma, Alzheimer's/non-Alzheimer's dementia, and Wilson's disease. In addition to its matrix modifying functions, LOX is also heavily implicated as a tumor suppressor.

In the synthesis pathway for the catecholamines - dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, tyrosine hydroxylase is the rate-limiting enzyme. Through alternative mRNA splicing, a wide molecular diversity of TH isoforms are generated that are tissue-specific and carry varied enzymatic activities, allowing for differential neurotransmitter availability at various synapses. The devastating condition of Parkinson's disease (PD) is due to a TH deficiency, where dopaminergic neuron degeneration and low dopamine levels consistently are present, along with gross neurochemical abnormalities when monitored by tyrosine hydroxylase antibody staining¹. Tyrosine hydroxylase antibody staining patterns in postmortem PD brain samples indicate that phosphorylation at the N-terminus of...

CD45, also known as T200 or the Leukocyte Common Antigen (LCA), is encoded by the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor type C (PTPRC) gene. The protein is expressed exclusively on cells of the haematopoietic system, and is one of the most abundant leukocyte cell surface glycoproteins (1). Different isoforms of CD45 are found on specific lymphocyte sub-populations, and are generated by alternative splicing. (2). At least four variants of the human protein can be distinguished by electrophoresis, with molecular weights ranging from 180-220kDa (3). B cells have been shown to express a 220kDa protein, while thymocytes express a 180kDa variant (2).

CD45 is a member of the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (PTP) family, which is comprised of more than 100 human genes (4). PTPs were originally believed to be housekeeping proteins, responsible simply for the dephosphorylation of tyrosine residues, however they are now known to play key...

Melanoma is caused by DNA damage to melanin producing cells. Common warning signs of melanoma are changes in color, size, and shape of skin/moles, new growth areas on the skin, and sores that do not heal. Protection from sun exposure and ultraviolet rays as well as regularly examining changes to skin are important for prevention.

Resources

1. Cancer.org 
   
2. Skincancer.org ...

p73 has been identified as a long-lost cousin of the p53 tumor suppressor protein. It has high homology with both p53 and with p63, a gene implicated in the maintenance of epithelial stem cells. The presence of significant homology between the DNA-binding domains of p53, p63, and p73 suggest that they have overlapping functions. Targeted disruption of p73 leads to defects hippocampal dysgenesis, hydrocephalus, chronic inflammation, and infections. A German group used the p73 antibody in immunoprecipitation studies using directed expression of dominant-negative p73 to restore cell cycle progression in cardiomyocytes and improve cardiac regeneration¹. Kravchenko’s group examined the ability of the small molecule RETRA to suppress mutant-bearing cancer cells using the p73 antibody². Based on their studies, it appears that a mutant p53-73...

Caspase 6, also known as Apoptotic protease Mch-2, belongs to the peptidase C14A family. It functions as a downstream enzyme in the caspase activation cascade and is responsible for the execution of apoptosis. Its overexpression promotes programmed cell death.

Diseases associated with CASP6 include thoracic cancer and myocardial infarction.  Among its related super-pathways are DR3 Signaling and Apoptosis and the survival FAS signaling cascade.

A clinically relevant model of transient global brain ischemia involving cardiac arrest followed by resuscitation in dogs was utilized to study the expression and proteolytic processing of apoptosis-regulatory proteins. Immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies, which recognize processed caspase-3, -6, -8, and -10, provided evidence of time-dependent activation of these proteases in both neurons and glia in ischemia-sensitive regions of the brain....

The survivin anti-apoptotic protein is the smallest member of a large family of proteins such as X-linked IAP, c-IAP1 and 2, IAP-like protein-2, melanoma IAP, Livin, and NAIP. Survivin regulates basic physiological events such as the cell cycle, tumor progression, fetal development, and cell migration. To further characterize and better understand apoptotic pathways, Xu’s group at MD Anderson used a survivin antibody in a DNA microarray screen upon promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) target genes¹. With their data, they identified a new PML4-dependent pathway that culminated in survivin as its main downstream target.

Glioma-associated oncogene 1 (Gli1) is a transcription factor within the DNA-binding zinc-finger protein family. The Sonic Hedgehog signaling pathway (SHH), which assists in embryonic development and maintaining stem cell populations in adults, activates the Gli1 protein. In the SHH Pathway, the hedgehog ligand binds to patched transmembrane protein receptor (PTC). PTC is an inhibitor of SMO, a protein receptor, and when the hedgehog ligand is present, SMO is not inhibited. Gli1 can then activate transcription along with a few other proteins, including Gli2 and Gli3. It is here that abnormal signaling from the SHH can lead to dysfunctional cells and cancer.

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GAPDH is a 146 kD tetramer glycolytic pathway metabolic enzyme responsible for reversibly phosphorylating glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. It may have other possible functions in transcriptional activation. GAPDH is highly expressed due to this housekeeping role, and its prevalent expression has allowed its use as an internal loading control – traditionally for mRNA expression comparisons – but also in protein studies. The GAPDH antibody is an excellent standard as reflected in its universal use as such in a wide range of scientific experiments and published literature.  The GAPDH antibody was employed to analyze the effect of the tumoricidal protein-lipid complex HAMLET upon cancer cells, where it was found that that HAMLET not only killed cancer cells but also activated an innate immune response in the surrounding tissues via ion channel activation and homeostasis disruption¹.