Description
ADAMTS5 (A Disintegrin-Like and Metalloproteinase with Thrombospondin Type 1 Motif, 5), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ADAMTS5 gene. ADAMTS5 is a member of the large ADAMTS family of zinc-dependent proteases. The enzyme encoded by this gene contains two C-terminal TS motifs and functions as aggrecanase to cleave aggrecan, a major proteoglycan of cartilage. By somatic cell hybrid analysis, the human ADAMTS5 gene is mapped to chromosome 21. Used mouse models, it is showed that Sdc4 controls a pathway that activates Adamts5 at the chondrocyte cell surface through Erk1/Erk2 activation of Mmp3