The gene information section lists the gene name (HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) name if available), any approved gene synonyms, Ensembl gene description, and the Entrez gene summary from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
The chromosomal and cytoband location of the gene according to Ensembl is reported together with the Ensembl gene identifier and Ensembl database version. The Entrez gene identifier for the gene is also given. If any of the protein products of the gene is linked to a UniProt KB/SWISS-PROT entry, links to the UniProt and the neXtProt databases for these proteins are displayed.
Gene name
PLAU (HGNC Symbol)
Synonyms
UPA, URK
Description
plasminogen activator, urokinase (HGNC Symbol)
Entrez gene summary
This gene encodes a serine protease involved in degradation of the extracellular matrix and possibly tumor cell migration and proliferation. A specific polymorphism in this gene may be associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease and also with decreased affinity for fibrin-binding. This protein converts plasminogen to plasmin by specific cleavage of an Arg-Val bond in plasminogen. Plasmin in turn cleaves this protein at a Lys-Ile bond to form a two-chain derivative in which a single disulfide bond connects the amino-terminal A-chain to the catalytically active, carboxy-terminal B-chain. This two-chain derivative is also called HMW-uPA (high molecular weight uPA). HMW-uPA can be further processed into LMW-uPA (low molecular weight uPA) by cleavage of chain A into a short chain A (A1) and an amino-terminal fragment. LMW-uPA is proteolytically active but does not bind to the uPA receptor. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Feb 2009]
The protein view displays protein features. The tabs at the top of the protein view section can be used to switch between the different splice variants encoded by this gene. The mouse over function displays additional data for the features in the protein view.
At the top of the protein view, the maximum percent sequence identity of the protein to all other proteins from other human genes is shown, using a sliding window of 10 aa residues (HsID 10) or 50 aa residues (HsID 50) (read more).
If a signal peptide is predicted by a majority of the signal peptide predictors SPOCTOPUS, SignalP 4.0 and Phobius (turquoise) and/or transmembrane regions (orange) are predicted by MDM, these are displayed.
Common (purple) and unique (grey) regions between alternative processed transcripts from the same gene are also displayed (read more), and at the bottom of the protein view is the protein scale.
The protein information section displays the alternative protein-coding transcripts (splice variants) encoded by this gene, according to the Ensembl database.
The ENSP identifier links to the Ensembl website for that protein, and the ENST identifier links to the Ensembl website for that transcript. The data in the UniProt column can be expanded to show links to all matching UniProt identifiers for this protein.
The protein classes to which this protein has been assigned are shown if expanding the data in the protein class column. Parent protein classes are in bold font and subclasses are listed under the parent class.
The Gene Ontology terms assigned to this protein are listed if expanding the Gene ontology column.
The length of the protein (amino acid residues) (according to Ensembl), molecular mass (kDalton), predicted signal peptide (according to a majority of the signal peptide predictors SPOCTOPUS, SignalP 4.0 and Phobius and predicted transmembrane region(s) (according to MDM) are also reported.