Antibody News

The polycomb group (PcG) protein, enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a methyl-transferase that plays a key role in transcriptional gene repression. EZH2 is frequently overexpressed in several malignant tumors, and is often associated with advanced disease stage in many solid tumors. Increased EZH2 levels were detected by Western blotting using anti-EZH2 antibodies in human pancreatic cancer cell lines, suggesting aberrant cell growth and invasiveness (1). EZH2 protein was overexpressed in invasive carcinomas compared to benign breast carcinomas as detected by immunohistochemistry using anti-EZH2 antibodies, suggesting a link between EZH2 and high grade and basal tumors (2).

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Phosphotyrosine is the phosphorylated version of the amino acid tyrosine, which results from the activation of intracellular protein kinases (e.g. via growth factors) during normal growth and development, well as in transformation and oncogenesis. Phosphorylation of histidine, serine, threonine and tyrosine residues acts as a signaling system to control many cellular signaling pathways. The cellular networks which rely on these signals can be very complex, so phosphorylation often occurs on multiple sites on a given protein. This phosphorylation is reversible, allowing for exquisite regulation and modulation. Phosphotyrosine is one of the most frequent post-translational modifications that regulate protein-protein interaction and enzyme activity in eukaryotic cells.

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Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA), also known as the polymerase delta auxiliary protein, is a nuclear protein essential for DNA replication as well as DNA excision and mismatch repair pathways. It has a large role in cell cycle regulation and response of cells to stress. Studies with PCNA antibodies have determined its mechanism of action to be direct binding of downstream signaling molecules such as CDK inhibitor p21, the endonucleases FEN1 and XPG, and DNA cytosine 5-methyltransferase (DNMT1).

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Nucleolin is an abundant, 106 kDa nucleolar phosphoprotein that is a major protein in actively dividing cells. The stability of nucleolin is heavily cell proliferation-dependent, as nucleolin antibody studies have shown that degraded forms are relatively abundant in quiescent non-dividing cells, while nonexist in actively dividing cells. This protein plays multifunctional roles in global processes of rDNA transcription, organization, and rRNA processing. Hanakahi, et. al. believe nucleolin is a component of the B-cell-specific transcription factor LR1 through use of nucleolin antibodies (1). Immunoprecipitation with nucleolin antibodies shows in vitro nucleolin binding to the KLF2 transcription factor...

The myeloid differentiation protein MyD88 (myeloid differentiation primary response protein) was originally identified and characterized as a primary upregulated response gene in interleukin-6 mediated myeloid differentiation. Now, MyD88 is known to be an essential cytosolic adaptor protein in the innate and adaptive immune responses controlled by the interleukin-1 signaling pathway, and MyD88 antibodies have shown that it is expressed in many tissues (1).

Studies with MyD88 antibodies have shown that MyD88 directly...

Originally identified as autoantigens from a Scleroderma Polymyositis Syndrome patient (1), the Ku protein family consists of nuclear proteins found in eukaryotes. Autoantibodies to both Ku subunits were subsequently found in other autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. The Ku heterodimer complex consists of Ku70 and Ku80 and is a very versatile protein that regulates a wide range of important and diverse cellular pathways such as DNA repair and DNA replication, telomere maintenance and telomere silencing, chromatin structure, V(D) J recombination, and Bax-mediated programmed cell death through apoptosis.

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Epigenetic mechanisms allow distinction between the active and inactive compartments of the genome, allowing proper cell lineage and embryogenesis. The trimethylation of Histone 3 at lysine 4 (H3K4Me3) is a common epigenetic histone modification that occurs in close proximity to nearly two-thirds of human gene promoters, and seems to balance another modification, trimethylation at lysine 27 (H3K27Me3). Researchers have created global histone methylation maps for human ES cells by using an H3K4Me3 antibody for ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation) coupled with paired-end ditags sequencing and found that these two modifications work in...

The neuropeptide and gut hormone Ghrelin is an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone (GH)-secretagogue receptor (GHSR) within the central nervous system. This pathway has received a great deal of attention and heavy study within the last decade because of its large role in numerous physiological processes including feeding and body weight homeostasis (1, 2). In particular, Ghrelin is a key regulator of reward-based eating behavior (2, 3). Specifically, Ghrelin is derived from preproghrelin, which also generates another peptide called obestatin.

Obestatin is an endogenous ligand for the orphan G protein-coupled...

Connexin 43/GJA1 is a member of the connexin gene family and the most abundant protein component found within gap junctions. Gap junctions are the cell-to-cell contacts that provide direct intercellular communication between cells by regulating back and forth diffusion of low molecular weight molecules. As such, they regulate quite an extensive range of key cellular processes. Connexin 43/GJA1 antibodies are important tools in wound healing studies, as connexin expression changes dramatically in the skin during different stages of wound healing (1, 2). Clinical trials exploiting connexins as the newest and latest promising target for skin wound healing are ongoing (3).  Connexin 43/GJA1 has far-reaching potential therapeutic uses in other tissue and cell types.

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Tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) is a member of the Trk receptor tyrosine kinases family consisting of TrkA, TrkB and TrkC. The sequence of these family members is highly conserved. TrK's are activated by several neurotrophins, which are small protein growth factors that play a role in survival and differentiation of distinct cell populations. Neurotrophins, particularly brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), are key molecules regulating neuronal survival, development, function and plasticity. BDNF binding to its receptor, TrkB, results in receptor dimerization and autophosphorylation in the kinase domain, followed by activation of various signaling pathways. Western blotting analysis of rat hippocampus using anti-TrkB antibodies revealed activation of TrkB upon external stimuli (1).

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Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 (PECAM1), also known as known as CD31 (cluster of differentiation 31), is an Ig supergene family cell adhesion and signaling membrane receptor. CD31/PECAM1 is critical for cell-cell interactions and is expressed on a variety of hematopoetic cells (platelets, granulocytes, monocytes/macrophages, dendritic cells, and T and B cell subsets). Because this adhesion molecule is expressed at high levels specifically localized to endothelial cell junctions, CD31/PECAM1 antibodies can be used as endothelial markers¹.

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Nucleolin is a multifunctional phosphoprotein ubiquitously distributed in the nucleolus, nucleus and cytoplasm of the cell. Nucleolin has a bipartite nuclear localization signal sequence and is conserved across the species. Nucleolin levels are expressed in abundance in exponentially growing cells and it regulates various aspects of DNA and RNA metabolism, chromatin structure, rDNA transcription, rRNA maturation, cytokinesis, nucleogenesis, cell proliferation and growth (1). Studies carried out to investigate the role of nucleolin in proliferating human cells using siRNA and subsequent detection of nucleolin levels by anti-nucleolin antibodies demonstrated the importance of nucleolin in cell proliferation and regulation (2).

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