Publications by authors named "Earl W Davie"

Proline-rich Gla protein 2 (PRGP2) is one of four known vertebrate transmembrane gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) proteins. Members of this protein family are broadly expressed in fetal and adult human tissues and share a common architecture consisting of a predicted propeptide and Gla domain, a single-pass transmembrane segment, and tandem Pro/Leu-Pro-Xaa-Tyr (PY) motifs near their C termini. Using a methodology developed for the regulated expression of enzymatically biotinylated proteins in mammalian cells, we demonstrate that PRGP2 undergoes gamma-glutamyl carboxylation in a manner that is both dependent upon the presence of a proteolytically cleavable propeptide and sensitive to warfarin, a vitamin K antagonist that is widely used as an antithrombotic agent.

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We have isolated and sequenced several cDNAs derived from the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis that encode vitamin K-dependent proteins. Four of these encode gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) domain-containing proteins, which we have named Ci-Gla1 through Ci-Gla4. Two additional cDNAs encode the apparent orthologs of gamma-glutamyl carboxylase and vitamin K epoxide reductase.

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The fundamental importance of thrombin in biology and medicine has made it one of the most extensively studied of all proteases. Thrombin performs essential functions in vertebrate biology as the central enzyme involved in blood coagulation and platelet aggregation, and as a mitogen and secretagogue for a variety of cell types. Thrombin is synthesized in the liver and secreted into the general circulation in an inactive zymogen form (prothrombin), a complex multidomain glycoprotein that is activated to yield thrombin at sites of vascular injury by limited proteolysis following upstream activation of the coagulation cascade.

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