English Abstract Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) is a membrane metallopeptidase expressed in many human tissues, predominantly in prostate, brain and small intestine. In brain it cleaves the most abundant peptide neurotransmitter N-acetyl-L-aspartyl-α-L-glutamate into N-acetyl-L-aspartate and free L-glutamate. Thus, GCPII participates in glutamate excitotoxicity through the release of free glutamate into the synaptic cleft. Inhibition of this activity has been shown to be neuroprotective in rats. In the human jejunal brush border, GCPII cleaves off terminal glutamate moieties from poly-γ-glutamylated folates, which can be then transported across the intestinal mucosa. The function of GCPII in human prostate is unknown but it is overexpressed in prostate cancer. Therefore, GCPII is an important marker of prostate cancer and its progression.Moreover, it could become a perspective target for treatment of prostate cancer as well as neuronal disorders associated with glutamate excitotoxicity. For the development and testing of novel drugs and therapeutics it is necessary to have an appropriate animal model. Mouse (Mus musculus) is such a model and it is widely used by many experimentators. However, no detailed comparison of mouse and human GCPII orthologs regarding their enzymatic activity, inhibition...
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:285165 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Knedlík, Tomáš |
| Contributors | Vaněk, Ondřej, Konvalinka, Jan |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | Czech |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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