Human ADAMTS4 MAb (Clone 416610)

ADAMTS4 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 4), also known as aggrecanase-1, is a member of the family of secreted zinc proteases with a multi-domain structure (1‑3). The protein precursors consist of a signal peptide and the following domains: pro, catalytic, disintegrin-like, TS type 1 motif, cysteine-rich, and spacer. It is the only ADAMTS identified that has one TS type I motif. It is an active protease effectively cleaving alpha-2-macroglobulin and aggrecan at multiple sites, and is inhibited by TIMP-3 with inhibition constants in subnanomolar range (4‑6). It receives great attention due to the elevation in its mRNA level after treatment with Interleukin-1 (7). However, in a mouse model of osteoarthritis, ADAMTS4 knock-out mice did not exhibit any significant protective effect (8). ADAMTS4 consists of a signal peptide (aa 1 to 51), a pro domain (aa 52 to 212) and a mature chain (aa 213 to 837) containing the following domains: catalytic (aa 218 to 425), disintegrin (aa 437 to 519), TSP type-1 (aa 520 to 575), Cys-rich (aa 577 to 685) and spacer (aa 686 to 837). The amino acid sequence of rhADAMTS4 is 100%, 97% and 94% identical to that of chimpanzee, dog, and mouse/rat/bovine.