Description
'A disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 4' is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ADAMTS4 gene. It is a member of the large ADAMTS family of zinc-dependent proteases. The human ADAMTS4 gene is mapped to chromosome 1 by somatic cell hybrid analysis. The enzyme encoded by this gene lacks a C-terminal TS motif. It is responsible for the degradation of aggrecan, a major proteoglycan of cartilage, and brevican, a brain-specific extracellular matrix protein. The cleavage of aggrecan and brevican suggests key roles of this enzyme in arthritic disease and in the central nervous system, potentially, in the progression of glioma