Age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2(ARMS2) was suggested to be associated with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in multiple genetic studies in Caucasians and Japanese. To date, no biological properties have been attributed to the putative protein in nAMD and PCV. The complete genes of ARMS2 and HTRA1 including all exons and the...

HtrA1 appears to be involved in several physiological processes as well as in the pathogenesis of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and osteoarthritis. It has also been hypothesized to play a role as a tumor suppressor. This manuscript reviews the current cancer-related HtrA1 research from the methodological and clinical standpoints including studies regarding its potential role as a tumor...

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate the genetic influence in the onset of the different age-related macular disease (AMD) subtypes by analysing the genotype distribution of CFH, ARMS2, HTRA1, VEGF-A and VEGF-R polymorphisms in patients with neovascular and atrophic AMD. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted on 101 consecutive patients with AMD diagnosis (74 exudative, 27 atrophic) following Wisc...

STUDY DESIGN In vitro study to develop an intervertebral disc degeneration organ culture model, using coccygeal bovine intervertebral discs (IVDs) and injection of proteolytic enzymes MMP-3, ADAMTS-4, and HTRA1. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to develop an in vitro model of enzyme-mediated intervertebral disc degeneration to mimic the clinical outcome in humans for investigation of therapeutic tr...

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in the world. Advanced AMD can be divided into wet AMD (choroidal neovascularization) and dry AMD (geographic atrophy, GA). Drusen is characterized by deposits in the macula without visual loss and is an early AMD sign in the Caucasian population. rs11200638 in the promoter of HTRA1 has recently been sho...

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in ageing societies, triggered by both environmental and genetic factors. The strongest genetic signal for AMD with odds ratios of up to 2.8 per adverse allele was found previously over a chromosomal region in 10q26 harboring two genes, ARMS2 and HTRA1, although with little knowledge as to which gene or genetic variation i...

The homotrimeric human serine protease HtrA1 is homologous to bacterial HtrA proteases regarding the trypsin-like catalytic and PDZ domains but differs by the presence of an N-terminal domain with IGFBP and Kazal homology. The crystal structures and SAXS analysis presented herein reveal the rare tandem of IGFBP- and Kazal-like modules, a protease active site that adopts a competent conformation...

The Escherichia coli HtrA protein is a periplasmic protease/chaperone that is upregulated under stress conditions. The protease and chaperone activities of HtrA eliminate or refold damaged and unfolded proteins in the bacterial periplasm that are generated upon stress conditions. In the absence of substrates, HtrA oligomerizes into a hexameric cage, but binding of misfolded proteins transforms ...