| Description |
Urokinase Plasminogen Acticator (uPA/Plau) is a serine protease involved in degradation of the extracellular matrix and possibly tumor cell migration and proliferation. A specific polymorphism in this gene may be associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease and also with decreased affinity for fibrin-binding. This protein converts Plasminogen to Plasmin by specific cleavage of an Arg-Val bond in Plasminogen. Plasmin in turn cleaves this protein at a Lys-Ile bond to form a two-chain derivative in which a single disulfide bond connects the amino-terminal A-chain to the catalytically active, carboxy-terminal B-chain. This two-chain derivative is also called HMW-uPA (High Molecular Weight uPA). HMW-uPA can be further processed into LMW-uPA (Low Molecular Weight uPA) by cleavage of chain A into a short chain A (A1) and an Amino-Terminal Fragment. LMW-uPA is proteolytically active but does not bind to the uPA Receptor.
|