Description
ANG, also known as angiogenin, is a potent stimulator of new blood vessels through the process of angiogenesis. It is a key protein implicated in angiogenesis in normal and tumor growth. This protein interacts with endothelial and smooth muscle cells resulting in cell migration, invasion, proliferation and formation of tubular structures. It binds to actin of both smooth muscle and endothelial cells to form complexes that activate proteolytic cascades which upregulate the production of proteases and plasmin that degrade the laminin and fibronectin layers of the basement membrane. Also, it exhibits ribonucleolytic activity that is distinctly different than that of pancreatic RNase A. This ribonucleolytic activity of ANG toward most RNase A substrates is much lower than that of RNase A. Recombinant human ANG, fused to His-tag at C-terminus, was expressed in insect cell and purified by using conventional chromatography techniques