Cytoglobin
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Cytoglobin is the protein product of CYGB, a
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
and
mammalian A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
. Cytoglobin is a
globin The globins are a superfamily of heme-containing globular proteins, involved in binding and/or transporting oxygen. These proteins all incorporate the globin fold, a series of eight alpha helical segments. Two prominent members include myo ...
molecule ubiquitously expressed in all tissues and most notably utilized in
marine mammals Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine env ...
. It was discovered in 2001 in hepatic stellate cells during
liver fibrosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...
. Thus, it was originally called "stellate cell activated protein" or STAP. It received its current name in 2002. It is thought to help in the distribution and storage of oxygen as well as protect against hypoxia by scavenging
reactive oxygen species In chemistry and biology, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive chemicals formed from diatomic oxygen (), water, and hydrogen peroxide. Some prominent ROS are hydroperoxide (H2O2), superoxide (O2−), hydroxyl ...
. The predicted function of cytoglobin is the facilitation of oxygen among tissues that don't express myoglobin.


Function

Cytoglobin is a ubiquitously expressed hexacoordinate
hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...
that may facilitate diffusion of oxygen through tissues, scavenge
nitric oxide Nitric oxide (nitrogen oxide, nitrogen monooxide, or nitrogen monoxide) is a colorless gas with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of nitrogen. Nitric oxide is a free radical: it has an unpaired electron, which is sometimes den ...
or reactive oxygen species, or serve a protective function during
oxidative stress Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage. Disturbances in the normal ...
.


Structure

Cytoglobin has 30-40%
sequence homology Sequence homology is the homology (biology), biological homology between DNA sequence, DNA, RNA sequence, RNA, or Protein primary structure, protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments ...
with
myoglobin Myoglobin (symbol Mb or MB) is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the cardiac and skeletal muscle, skeletal Muscle, muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. Myoglobin is distantly related to hemoglobin. Compar ...
, and has a similar oxygen binding affinity. One of the major differences is the presence of a 20 amino acids extension at both the n and c terminus. Cytoglobin is a hexacoordinate heme protein. The heme iron in coordinated with histidine residues on both sides, HisF8 and HisE7. The HisE7 is considered to be an "endogenous ligand." In order for oxygen or another gaseous ligand to bind, the HisE7 must dissociate from the iron, making the binding kinetics relatively slow. In an oxidizing environment, a
disulfide bond In chemistry, a disulfide (or disulphide in British English) is a compound containing a functional group or the anion. The linkage is also called an SS-bond or sometimes a disulfide bridge and usually derived from two thiol groups. In inor ...
between Cys38 and Cys83 of the protein forms and causes a conformational change to move HisE7 out of the way, allowing oxygen to bind. Thus, oxygen binding is dependent on the
redox Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is t ...
state of the tissue.


Applications

CYGB expression can be used as a specific marker with which
hepatic stellate cell Hepatic stellate cells (HSC), also known as perisinusoidal cells or Ito cells (earlier ''lipocytes'' or ''fat-storing cells''), are pericytes found in the perisinusoidal space of the liver, also known as the space of Disse (a small area between ...
s can be distinguished from portal
myofibroblast A myofibroblast is a cell phenotype that was first described as being in a state between a fibroblast and a smooth muscle cell. Structure Myofibroblasts are contractile web-like fusiform cells that are identifiable by their expression of α-s ...
s in the damaged human liver.


References


Further reading

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External links

* {{Hemeproteins Hemoproteins