NLR Family, Pyrin Domain Containing Protein 7 (NLRP7)

NALPs are cytoplasmic proteins that form a subfamily within the larger CATERPILLER protein family. Most short NALPs, such as NALP7, have an N-terminal pyrin (MEFV) domain (PYD), followed by a NACHT domain, a NACHT-associated domain (NAD), and a C-terminal leucine-rich repeat (LRR) region.Only NALP7 variant-1, which encodes a protein with PYD, NACHT, NAD, and LRR domains, was upregulated in seminomas. Northern blot analysis using a probe common to all 3 variants detected a 3.3-kb transcript in testis only. Immunoblot analysis showed expression in an embryonal carcinoma line. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated high expression in seminomas and weak expression in normal testicular germ cells