Description
Urokinase - type plasminogen activator is also known as PLAU and UPA, a serine protease with an extremely limited substrate specificity, cleaving the sequence Cys – Pro – Gly - Arg560 - Val561 – Val – Gly – Gly – Cys in plasminogen to form plasmin.
uPA is a potent marker of invasion and metastasis in a variety of human cancers associated with breast, stomach, colon, bladder, ovary, brain and endometrium.uPA and its receptor (uPAR) have been implicated in a broad spectrum of pathophysiological processes, including fibrinolysis, proteolysis, inflammation, atherogenesis and plaque destabilization, all of which are involved in the pathogenesis of MI (myocardial infarction)