| Modification Notes |
The ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) protein family, which includes over 30 membrane-anchored, glycosylated, Zn2+ dependent proteases, plays a role in cell-cell and cell-matrix interface related processes, including fertilization, muscle fusion, secretion of TNFå (tumor necrosis factor å), and modulation of the neurogenic function of Notch and Delta (1-3). The ADAM proteins possess a signal-domain, a pro-domain, a metalloprotease domain, a disintegrin domain (Integrin ligand), a cysteine-rich region, an epidermal growth factor-like domain, a transmembrane domain and a cytoplasmic tail (1-3). ADAMs are expressed in a wide range of mammalian tissues and several are abundantly expressed in the male reproductive tract (3). Expression of ADAM19, also designated meltrin b, is highest in the peripheral nervous system during embryogenesis, but is also apparent in placenta, brain, heart, lung, leukocytes, and SW480 cells (4-6). ADAM19 also serves as a dendritic cell marker (7). Truncation of ADAM19 in its cysteine-rich domain is necessary to exert its proteolytic activity on specific substrates, including a2-macroglobulin (5,6,8). |