Gooptu, Bibek and Lomas, D.A. (2009) Conformational pathology of the serpins: themes, variations, and therapeutic strategies. Annual Review of Biochemistry 78 (1), pp. 147-176. ISSN 0066-4154.
Abstract
Point mutations cause members of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) superfamily to undergo a novel conformational transition, forming ordered polymers. These polymers characterize a group of diseases termed the serpinopathies. The formation of polymers underlies the retention of α1-antitrypsin within hepatocytes and of neuroserpin within neurons to cause cirrhosis and dementia, respectively. Point mutations of antithrombin, C1 inhibitor, α1-antichymotrypsin, and heparin cofactor II cause a similar conformational transition, resulting in a plasma deficiency that is associated with thrombosis, angioedema, and emphysema. Polymers of serpins can also form in extracellular tissues where they activate inflammatory cascades. This is best described for the Z variant of α1-antitrypsin in which the proinflammatory properties of polymers provide an explanation for both progressive emphysema and the selective advantage of this mutant allele. Therapeutic strategies are now being developed to block the aberrant conformational transitions and so treat the serpinopathies.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Natural Sciences |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Structural Molecular Biology, Institute of (ISMB) |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Jun 2015 14:54 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:17 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/12435 |
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