Structural and functional mapping of α-fetoprotein

Abstract

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a major mammalian oncofetal protein, which is also present in small quantities in adults. It is a member of the albuminoid gene superfamily, which consists of AFP, serum albumin, vitamin D binding protein, and alpha-albumin (afamin). Although physicochemical and immunological properties of AFP have been well-studied, its biological role in embryo- and carcinogenesis and in adult organisms as well as mechanisms underlying its functioning remain unclear. During the recent decades, the biological role of AFP has been evaluated by identification of its functionally important sites. Comparison of primary structure of AFP and some physiologically active proteins revealed similarity of some polypeptide regions. This has been used for prediction of AFP functions (i.e., its multifunctionality). Localization of functionally important sites followed by determination of their amino acid composition and type of biological activity has provided valuable information for structural-functional mapping of AFP. Some peptide fragments of AFP have been synthesized and tested for biological activity. This review summarizes data on structural-functional interrelationships. We also describe functionally important AFP sites found by various groups during the last decade of structural-functional mapping of AFP with experimentally confirmed and putative biologically active sites.

LAPTM4B‐35 is a novel prognostic factor of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Therefore, LAPTM4B-35 may be used as an adjuvant HCC diagnostic marker in liver biopsy or during and after the hepatectomy. Also, it can be combined with other molecular markers Journal of Surgical Oncology such as AFP [9], AFP-L3 [10], DCP [11], GP73 [12], etc. [13] for improving the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity of HCC.…”

Serum Markers of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…Since AFP is similar to albumin, it is possible that AFP function as a carrier for several ligands such as bilirubin, fatty acids, steroids, heavy metals, flavonoids, phytoestrogens, dioxin, and various drugs [9,10]. The increase of AFP levels [500 ng/ml is correlated with the tumor size: 80% of small HCC show no increase of AFP concentration.…”

AFPep, a novel drug for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, does not disrupt the estrous cycle or fertility in rats

“…These epidemiology studies have been supported by laboratory studies which have shown that AFP inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells in culture and in experimental animals (9,10). However, a large molecule such as AFP would be expected to bear multiple epitopes, and as a drug, to have an array of biological activities, a situation for which ample precedent exists (11)(12)(13). In fact, in addition to its antibreast cancer activity, AFP has been shown to have activities associated with immunoregulation (14), hepatic regeneration (15), embryonic tissue differentiation (16) and disruption of the estrous (17,18) and menstrual cycle (19,20).…”