PC5/6 Background Information
The subtilisin-like prohormone convertase (PC) family mediates the cleavage of latent precursor proteins into their biologically active forms. This is a tightly regulated process that leads to the generation of various active peptides and proteins, including neuropeptides, polypeptide hormones, protein tyrosine phosphatases, growth factors and their receptors, and enzymes such as matrix metalloproteases (MMPs). These processing reactions occur at pairs of basic amino acids. The members of the PC family include furin, PC1/3, PC2, PACE4, PC5/6 and PC7/8 (also designated lymphoma proprotein convertase or LPC), all of which share homology to the bacterial subtilisin and yeast kexin families of endoproteases. The human PC5/6 gene maps to chromosome 9 and encodes a protein that is expressed in brain, adrenal and thyroid glands, heart, placenta, lung and testis. PC5/6 is expressed as a precursor protein that is cleaved into a mature form and, to a lesser extent, a carboxy-terminal truncated form. Proteins processed by PC5/6 include several growth factors, adhesion molecules, and extracellular matrix compounds. Specifically, PC5/6 is involved in the activation of neurotensin and neuromedin in brain.
