aP2

Adipocyte Protein 2

 

 

Table of Contents  I.    Introduction II.    Structure III.    Function IV.    Medical Relevance      A.    Asthma      B.    Diabetes      C.    Fatty liver disease      D.    Heart Disease      E.    Obesity V.    Conclusion

   

 Crystalline Structure of murine aP2             1

 

 

 

I. Introduction

     aP2 is a highly functional carrier protein associated with fatty acids. aP2 stands for adipocyte protein 2 (the 2 signifies that there is another      adipocyte protein. aP1 is commonly associated with psoriasis).  2

 

     An adipocyte is a cell that specializes in the storage of fat and is commonly found in connective tissues.  3

 

     The protein is formally classified as a fatty acid binding protein and is also commonly called FABP4.  These are a family of 17 proteins      responsible for attaching to fatty acids 4 and carrying (hence the name carrier protein) them between cell organelles and cellular membranes.  4   

 

 

II. Structure

     aP2 is a crystalline structure protein   Studies on the structure both murine (mouse) and human    

 

 

 

 

 

Crystalline Structure of human aP2 with a bound palmitic acid

shown in cyan.   5 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes/References

 

1   Xu Z, Bernlohr DA, Banaszak LJ. Crystal structure of recombinant murine adipocyte lipid-binding protein. Biochemistry: v31, p.3484-3492. 1992 Apr 7.

     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1554730

 

2   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adipocyte_protein_2

 

3   New Oxford American Dictionary

 

4   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid-binding_protein

 

5   Eric Marr, Mark Tardie, Maynard Carty, Tracy Brown Phillips, Ing-Kae Wang, Walt Soeller, Xiayang Qiu, and George Karam. Expression, purification, crystallization and      structure of human adipocyte lipid-binding protein (aP2). Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun. 62(Pt 11): 1058–1060. Published online 2006 October 25.

     http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17077479#supplementary-material-sec