Pleiotrophin Antibody

Pleiotrophin (PTN), also known as heparin-binding brain mitogen (HBBM) or heparin-binding growth factor 8 (HBGF-8) or neurite growth-promoting factor 1 (NEGF1) or heparin affinity regulatory peptide (HARP) or heparin binding growth associated molecule (HB-GAM), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PTN gene. PTN is the first member of a family of developmentally regulated cytokines. The PTN gene is mapped to 7q33-q34. A mutant PTN that contained only the first N-terminal 40 amino acids was a dominant negative. Pleiotrophin is expressed in the central and peripheral nervous system and also in several non-neural tissues, notably lung, kidney, gut and bone. Pleiotrophin binds to cell-surface nucleolin as a low affinity receptor. This binding can inhibit HIV infection.