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Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections

Alpha-2-macroglobulin is an extracellular macromolecule mainly known for its role as a broad-spectrum protease inhibitor. By presenting itself as an optimal substrate for endopeptidases of all catalytic types, alpha-2-macroglobulin lures active proteases into its molecular cage and subsequently ‘fla...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vandooren, Jennifer, Itoh, Yoshifumi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8712716/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34970276
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.803244
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author Vandooren, Jennifer
Itoh, Yoshifumi
author_facet Vandooren, Jennifer
Itoh, Yoshifumi
author_sort Vandooren, Jennifer
collection PubMed
description Alpha-2-macroglobulin is an extracellular macromolecule mainly known for its role as a broad-spectrum protease inhibitor. By presenting itself as an optimal substrate for endopeptidases of all catalytic types, alpha-2-macroglobulin lures active proteases into its molecular cage and subsequently ‘flags’ their complex for elimination. In addition to its role as a regulator of extracellular proteolysis, alpha-2-macroglobulin also has other functions such as switching proteolysis towards small substrates, facilitating cell migration and the binding of cytokines, growth factors and damaged extracellular proteins. These functions appear particularly important in the context of immune-cell function. In this review manuscript, we provide an overview of all functions of alpha-2-macroglobulin and place these in the context of inflammation, immunity and infections.
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spelling pubmed-87127162021-12-29 Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections Vandooren, Jennifer Itoh, Yoshifumi Front Immunol Immunology Alpha-2-macroglobulin is an extracellular macromolecule mainly known for its role as a broad-spectrum protease inhibitor. By presenting itself as an optimal substrate for endopeptidases of all catalytic types, alpha-2-macroglobulin lures active proteases into its molecular cage and subsequently ‘flags’ their complex for elimination. In addition to its role as a regulator of extracellular proteolysis, alpha-2-macroglobulin also has other functions such as switching proteolysis towards small substrates, facilitating cell migration and the binding of cytokines, growth factors and damaged extracellular proteins. These functions appear particularly important in the context of immune-cell function. In this review manuscript, we provide an overview of all functions of alpha-2-macroglobulin and place these in the context of inflammation, immunity and infections. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-12-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8712716/ /pubmed/34970276 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.803244 Text en Copyright © 2021 Vandooren and Itoh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Immunology
Vandooren, Jennifer
Itoh, Yoshifumi
Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections
title Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections
title_full Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections
title_fullStr Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections
title_full_unstemmed Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections
title_short Alpha-2-Macroglobulin in Inflammation, Immunity and Infections
title_sort alpha-2-macroglobulin in inflammation, immunity and infections
topic Immunology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8712716/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34970276
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.803244
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