Thymosin α1 is a peptide fragment derived from prothymosin alpha, a protein that in humans is encoded by the PTMAgene.[5]
Function
Thymosin α1 is believed to be a major component of Thymosin Fraction 5 responsible for the activity of that preparation in restoring immune function in animals lacking thymus glands. It was the first of the peptides from Thymosin Fraction 5 to be completely sequenced and synthesized. Unlike β thymosins, to which it is genetically and chemically unrelated, thymosin α1 is produced as a 28-amino acid fragment, from a longer, 113-amino acid precursor, prothymosin α.[6] It has been found to enhance cell-mediated immunity in humans as well as experimental animals.[7]
Therapeutic application
Thymosin α1 is now approved in 35 under developed or developing countries for the treatment of Hepatitis B and C, and it is also used to boost the immune response in the treatment of other diseases.[8][9]
^"Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^"Mouse PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
^Manrow RE, Leone A, Krug MS, Eschenfeldt WH, Berger SL (Jul 1992). "The human prothymosin alpha gene family contains several processed pseudogenes lacking deleterious lesions". Genomics. 13 (2): 319–31. doi:10.1016/0888-7543(92)90248-Q. PMID1612591.
^Wara DW, Goldstein AL, Doyle NE, Ammann AJ (January 1975). "Thymosin activity in patients with cellular immunodeficiency". N. Engl. J. Med. 292 (2): 70–4. doi:10.1056/NEJM197501092920204. PMID1078552.
^Garaci E, Favalli C, Pica F, et al. (September 2007). "Thymosin alpha 1: from bench to bedside". Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1112: 225–34. doi:10.1196/annals.1415.044. PMID17600290.
^Goldstein AL, Goldstein AL (May 2009). "From lab to bedside: emerging clinical applications of thymosin alpha 1". Expert Opin Biol Ther. 9 (5): 593–608. doi:10.1517/14712590902911412. PMID19392576.
Further reading
Martini PG, Katzenellenbogen BS (2003). "Modulation of estrogen receptor activity by selective coregulators". J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 85 (2–5): 117–22. doi:10.1016/S0960-0760(03)00207-3. PMID12943695.
Barcia MG, Castro JM, Jullien CD, et al. (1992). "Prothymosin alpha is phosphorylated by casein kinase-2". FEBS Lett. 312 (2–3): 152–6. doi:10.1016/0014-5793(92)80924-6. PMID1426245.
Baxevanis CN, Thanos D, Reclos GJ, et al. (1992). "Prothymosin alpha enhances human and murine MHC class II surface antigen expression and messenger RNA accumulation". J. Immunol. 148 (7): 1979–84. PMID1545115.
Gallego R, Rosón E, García-Caballero T, et al. (1992). "Prothymosin alpha expression in lymph nodes and tonsils: an optical and ultrastructural study". Acta Anat (Basel). 143 (3): 219–22. doi:10.1159/000147251. PMID1632187.
Cordero OJ, Sarandeses CS, López JL, et al. (1992). "Prothymosin alpha enhances interleukin 2 receptor expression in normal human T-lymphocytes". Int. J. Immunopharmacol. 13 (8): 1059–65. doi:10.1016/0192-0561(91)90156-2. PMID1814846.
Watts JD, Cary PD, Sautiere P, Crane-Robinson C (1990). "Thymosins: both nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins". Eur. J. Biochem. 192 (3): 643–51. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1990.tb19271.x. PMID2209614.
Eschenfeldt WH, Manrow RE, Krug MS, Berger SL (1989). "Isolation and partial sequencing of the human prothymosin alpha gene family. Evidence against export of the gene products". J. Biol. Chem. 264 (13): 7546–55. PMID2708378.
Gómez-Márquez J, Segade F, Dosil M, et al. (1989). "The expression of prothymosin alpha gene in T lymphocytes and leukemic lymphoid cells is tied to lymphocyte proliferation". J. Biol. Chem. 264 (15): 8451–4. PMID2785990.
Pan LX, Haritos AA, Wideman J, et al. (1986). "Human prothymosin alpha: amino acid sequence and immunologic properties". Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 250 (1): 197–201. doi:10.1016/0003-9861(86)90717-4. PMID3532956.
Kubota S, Adachi Y, Copeland TD, Oroszlan S (1995). "Binding of human prothymosin alpha to the leucine-motif/activation domains of HTLV-I Rex and HIV-1 Rev". Eur. J. Biochem. 233 (1): 48–54. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1995.048_1.x. PMID7588773.
Garcia-Caballero T, Dominguez F, Roson E, et al. (1994). "Distribution of prothymosin alpha in rat and human adrenal cortex". Anat. Rec. 239 (1): 88–94. doi:10.1002/ar.1092390110. PMID7913591.
Szabo P, Panneerselvam C, Clinton M, et al. (1993). "Prothymosin alpha gene in humans: organization of its promoter region and localization to chromosome 2". Hum. Genet. 90 (6): 629–34. doi:10.1007/BF00202480. PMID7916742.
Maruyama K, Sugano S (1994). "Oligo-capping: a simple method to replace the cap structure of eukaryotic mRNAs with oligoribonucleotides". Gene. 138 (1–2): 171–4. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(94)90802-8. PMID8125298.
Sburlati AR, De La Rosa A, Batey DW, et al. (1993). "Phosphorylation of human and bovine prothymosin alpha in vivo". Biochemistry. 32 (17): 4587–96. doi:10.1021/bi00068a015. PMID8485135.
Rubtsov IuP; Vartapetian AB (1996). "[New intronless members of human prothymosin alpha genes]". Mol. Biol. (Mosk.). 29 (6): 1320–5. PMID8592501.