Proprotein convertases (PPCs) are a family of proteins that activate other proteins
Many proteins are inactive when they are first synthesized, because they contain chains of amino acids that block their activity. Proprotein convertases remove those chains and activate the protein. The prototypical proprotein convertase is FURIN. Proprotein convertases have medical significance,
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) aka abrineurin
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), or abrineurin, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the BDNF gene. BDNF is a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, which are related to the canonical nerve growth factor (NGF), a family which also includes NT-3 and NT-4/N
Neurotrophin-3 and Neurotrophin-4
Neurotrophin-4 (NT-4), also known as neurotrophin-5 (NT-5), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NTF4 gene. It is a neurotrophic factor that signals predominantly through the TrkB receptor tyrosine kinase. NT-4 was first discovered and isolated from xenopus and viper in the ye
Sortilin
Sortilin (SORT1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SORT1 gene on chromosome 1. This protein is a type I membrane glycoprotein in the vacuolar protein sorting 10 protein (Vps10p) family of sorting receptors. While it is ubiquitously expressed in many tissues, sortilin is most
Nerve Growth Factor
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a neurotrophic factor and neuropeptide primarily involved in the regulation of growth, maintenance, proliferation, and survival of certain target neurons. It is perhaps the prototypical growth factor, in that it was one of the first to