Binds heparin and heparan sulfate with high affinity, but lacks heparanase activity. Inhibits HPSE, possibly by competing for its substrates (in vitro).
Heparanase activity is highly implicated in cell dissemination associated with tumor metastasis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Heparanase expression is induced in many hematological and solid tumors, associated with poor prognosis. Heparanase homolog, termed heparanase 2 (Hpa2), was cloned based on sequence homology. Detailed characterization of Hpa2 at the biochemical, cellular, and clinical levels has not been so far reported, and its role in normal physiology and pathological disorders is obscure. We provide evidence that unlike heparanase, Hpa2 is not subjected to proteolytic processing and exhibits no enzymatic activity typical of heparanase. Notably, the full-length Hpa2c protein inhibits heparanase enzymatic activity, likely due to its high affinity to heparin and heparan sulfate and its ability to associate physically with heparanase. Hpa2 expression was markedly elevated in head and neck carcinoma patients, correlating with prolonged time to disease recurrence (follow-up to failure; p = 0.006) and inversely correlating with tumor cell dissemination to regional lymph nodes (N-stage; p = 0.03). Hpa2 appears to restrain tumor metastasis, likely by attenuating heparanase enzymatic activity, conferring a favorable outcome of head and neck cancer patients.
Interacting selectively and non-covalently with a heparan sulfate proteoglycan, any proteoglycan containing heparan sulfate as the glycosaminoglycan carbohydrate unit.
Heparanase activity is highly implicated in cell dissemination associated with tumor metastasis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Heparanase expression is induced in many hematological and solid tumors, associated with poor prognosis. Heparanase homolog, termed heparanase 2 (Hpa2), was cloned based on sequence homology. Detailed characterization of Hpa2 at the biochemical, cellular, and clinical levels has not been so far reported, and its role in normal physiology and pathological disorders is obscure. We provide evidence that unlike heparanase, Hpa2 is not subjected to proteolytic processing and exhibits no enzymatic activity typical of heparanase. Notably, the full-length Hpa2c protein inhibits heparanase enzymatic activity, likely due to its high affinity to heparin and heparan sulfate and its ability to associate physically with heparanase. Hpa2 expression was markedly elevated in head and neck carcinoma patients, correlating with prolonged time to disease recurrence (follow-up to failure; p = 0.006) and inversely correlating with tumor cell dissemination to regional lymph nodes (N-stage; p = 0.03). Hpa2 appears to restrain tumor metastasis, likely by attenuating heparanase enzymatic activity, conferring a favorable outcome of head and neck cancer patients.
Heparanase activity is highly implicated in cell dissemination associated with tumor metastasis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Heparanase expression is induced in many hematological and solid tumors, associated with poor prognosis. Heparanase homolog, termed heparanase 2 (Hpa2), was cloned based on sequence homology. Detailed characterization of Hpa2 at the biochemical, cellular, and clinical levels has not been so far reported, and its role in normal physiology and pathological disorders is obscure. We provide evidence that unlike heparanase, Hpa2 is not subjected to proteolytic processing and exhibits no enzymatic activity typical of heparanase. Notably, the full-length Hpa2c protein inhibits heparanase enzymatic activity, likely due to its high affinity to heparin and heparan sulfate and its ability to associate physically with heparanase. Hpa2 expression was markedly elevated in head and neck carcinoma patients, correlating with prolonged time to disease recurrence (follow-up to failure; p = 0.006) and inversely correlating with tumor cell dissemination to regional lymph nodes (N-stage; p = 0.03). Hpa2 appears to restrain tumor metastasis, likely by attenuating heparanase enzymatic activity, conferring a favorable outcome of head and neck cancer patients.
Heparan sulfate proteoglycans are important constituents of the extracellular matrix and basement membrane. Cleavage of heparan sulfate by heparanase, an endoglycosidase, is implicated in the extravasation of leukocytes and metastatic tumour cells, identifying this enzyme(s) as a target for anti-inflammatory and anti-metastatic therapies. The cloning of a cDNA encoding human heparanase (Hpa1) was reported recently, together with evidence indicating that the hpa1 gene is unique and unlikely to belong to a family of related genes. Here we report the cloning of a cDNA encoding a novel human protein, HPA2, with significant homology to Hpa1. Alternative splicing of the hpa2 transcript yields three different mRNAs, encoding putative proteins of 480, 534, and 592 amino acids. Sequence analyses predict that all three Hpa2 proteins are intracellular, membrane-bound enzymes. Hpa2 also shows a markedly different mRNA distribution to Hpa1 in both normal and cancer tissues. The difference in expression profiles and predicted cellular locations suggests that Hpa2 and Hpa1 proteins have distinct biological functions.
A reference proteome is a set of protein sequences derived from a complete proteome which constitutes a defined standard for a particular user community. Reference proteomes are manually defined according to a number of criteria. They cover the proteomes of well- studied model organisms and other proteomes of interest for biomedical and biotechnological research. Reference proteomes have been selected to provide broad coverage of the tree of life, and constitute a representative cross-section of the taxonomic diversity to be found within UniProtKB.