Meprin A subunit alpha also known as endopeptidase-2 or PABA peptide hydrolase is the alpha subunit of the

meprin A Meprin A (, ''endopeptidase-2'', ''meprin-a'', ''meprin'', ''N-benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-p-aminobenzoic acid hydrolase'', ''PABA-peptide hydrolase'', ''PPH'') is an enzyme that cleaves protein and peptide substrates preferentially on carboxyl side of hydr ...

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''MEP1A''

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 ...

. The MEP1A locus is on chromosome 6p in humans and on chromosome 17 in mice.

Function

The meprin alpha subunit product of the MEP1A gene is processed in the

endoplasmic reticulum The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a part of a transportation system of the eukaryote, eukaryotic cell, and has many other important functions such as protein folding. The word endoplasmic means "within the cytoplasm", and reticulum is Latin for ...

during intracellular transport, and is secreted as homomeric meprin A. Meprin alpha subunits may self-associate, and once secreted, form very large multimers, with a molecular mass of over 1 million daltons. In cells concurrently expressing

MEP1B Meprin A subunit beta is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''MEP1B'' gene. Meprins are multidomain zinc metalloproteases that are highly expressed in mammalian kidney The mammalian kidneys are a pair of excretory organs of the urinary ...

, the meprin alpha and meprin beta subunits form disulfide dimers that interact to form membrane bound heterotetrameric

Function

References

Further reading