Mammalian ferritins consist of 24 subunits made up of two types of poly-peptide chains, ferritin heavy chain and ferritin light chain, which each have unique functions. Ferritin heavy chains catalyze the first step in iron storage, the oxidation of FeII, whereas ferritin light chains promote the nucleation of ferrihydrite, enabling storage of FeIII. The most prominent role of mamma-lian ferritins is to provide iron-buffering capacity to cells. In addition to iron buffering, heavy chain ferriti

Aspartate Aminotransferase [Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase] is a ubiquitous pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzyme which exists in both mitochondrial and cytosolic forms. The enzyme plays an important role in amino acid metabolism and in the urea and tricarboxylic acid cycles. The 2 isoenzymes are homodimeric. In liver about 80% of the enzyme activity is mitochondrial in origin, whereas in serum the enzyme activity is largely cytosolic. Although the mitochondrial and soluble forms of GOT

This gene encodes a transcription factor containing a POU homeodomain. This transcription factor plays a role in embryonic development, especially during early embryogenesis, and it is necessary for embryonic stem cell pluripotency. A translocation of this gene with the Ewing's sarcoma gene, t(6;22)(p21;q12), has been linked to tumor formation. Alternative splicing, as well as usage of alternative translation initiation codons, results in multiple isoforms, one of which initiates at a non-AUG

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major growth factor for endothelial cells. This gene encodes one of the two receptors of the VEGF. This receptor, known as kinase insert domain receptor, is a type III receptor tyrosine kinase. It functions as the main mediator of VEGF-induced endothelial proliferation, survival, migration, tubular morphogenesis and sprouting. The signalling and trafficking of this receptor are regulated by multiple factors, including Rab GTPase, P2Y purine nucl

DNA methylation, or the addition of methyl groups to cytosine bases in the dinucleotide CpG, is imperative to proper development and regulates gene expression. The methylation pattern involves the enzymatic processes of methylation and demethylation. The demethylation enzyme was recently found to be a mammalian protein, which exhibits demethylase activity associated to a methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD). The enzyme is able to revert methylated cytosine bases to cytosines within the particular