Persephin is a secreted protein belonging to the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family of the TGF-beta superfamily. It shares 38 – 46% amino acid (aa) identity with family members GDNF, neurturin and artemin. Persephin is expressed at very low levels in most tissues. The 156 aa, 10 – 12 kDa mature protein contains […]

Oncostatin M (OSM) is a growth and differentiation factor that participates in the regulation of neurogenesis, osteogenesis and hematopoiesis. Produced by activated T cells, monocytes and Kaposi’s sarcoma cells, OSM can exert both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on cell proliferation. It stimulates the proliferation of fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells and Kaposi’s sarcoma cells, but inhibits […]

Neurotrophin-4 (NT-4), is a member of the NGF family of neuronal and epithelial growth factors. Neurotrophins have six conserved cysteine residues that are involved in the formation of three disulfide bonds.Mature human NT-4 shares 91% and 95% aa sequence identity with mouse and rat NT-4/5, respectively. The mature protein is secreted as a homodimer and […]

Oncostatin M (OSM) is a multifunctional cytokine that belongs to the Interleukin-6 subfamily. Among the family members, OSM is most closely related to leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and it in fact utilizes the LIF receptor in addition to its specific receptor in the human. It has approximately 48 % and 72 % amino acid sequence […]

Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) is a member of the NGF family of neurotrophic factors (also named neurotrophins) that are required for the differentiation and survival of specific neuronal subpopulations in both the central as well as the peripheral nervous systems. The NT-3 cDNA encodes a 257 amino acid residue precursor protein with a signal peptide and a […]

Neurturin is a member of the GDNF family of ligands, which include glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), Neurturin, Persephin, and Artemin. GDNF family proteins are distant members of the Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGF-beta ) superfamily. Similarly to other TGF-beta family proteins, Neurturin is synthesized as a precursor protein that is cleaved at the dibasic […]

Cardiotrophin-like cytokine (CLC), also referred to as novel neurotrophin-1 (NNT-1) or B cell-stimulating factor-3 (BSF-3), is a new member of the IL-6 family of structurally related cytokines that includes IL-6, CNTF, LIF, CT-1, IL-11 and OSM. All family members share the receptor subunit gp130 that belong to the type I cytokine receptor superfamily. Ligand binding […]

Midkine (MK) and its functionally-related protein pleiotrophin are heparin-binding neurotrophic factors that signal through the same receptor, known as anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). MK plays an important regulatory role in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during fetal development and in postnatal lung development. MK chemoattracts embryonic neurons, neutrophils and macrophages, and exerts angiogenic, growth and survival activities during […]

Midkine (MK) is a 15 kDa heparin-binding molecule originally cloned during a search for genes preferentially transcribed during retinoic acid (RA)-induced differentiation. Midkine belongs to a family of neurotrophic and developmentally-regulated heparin-binding molecules consisting of midkine, pleiotrophin (PTN/HBNF/OSF-1/HNGF-8) and the avian midkine homolog, RI-HB (for retinoic acid-inducible heparin-binding protein). Midkine is a highly basic, nonglycosylated […]

Midkine (MK) and its functionally-related protein pleiotrophin are heparin-binding neurotrophic factors that signal through the same receptor, known as anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). MK plays an important regulatory role in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during fetal development and in postnatal lung development. MK chemoattracts embryonic neurons, neutrophils and macrophages, and exerts angiogenic, growth and survival activities during […]