A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase With Thrombospondin 12 (ADAMTS12)

ADAMTS12 possesses all the domains characteristic of ADAMTSs, including signal sequence, propeptide, metalloproteinase-like, disintegrin-like, and cysteine-rich domains, as well as a series of 8 uniquely organized thrombospondin I (THBS1) repeats. Expression was upregulated by transforming growth factor-beta (TGFB) in fetal fibroblasts. RT-PCR analysis detected wide expression of ADAMTS12 in gastric carcinomas but not in adjacent normal tissues. ADAMTS12 is expressed as proteins of 83 and 120 kD, considerably lower masses than the 175-kD protein expressed in vitro. ADAMTS12 is extensively processed at its N-terminal end, after the cysteine-rich domain and around the first THBS1 domain, by a metalloprotease in cells.