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14-3-3 eta, an isoform of 14-3-3 protein 14-3-3 eta isoform (also known as tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein, eta polypeptide) is expressed mainly in brain, and is involved in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis regulation. In humans, it is encoded by the YWHAH gene, and is a positional and functional candidate for schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorder (BP). This gene contains a 7 bp repeat sequence in its 5' Untranslated Region (UTR), and early-onset schizophrenia has been associated with changes in the number of this repeat. 14-3-3 eta and gamma are found in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with joint inflammation. Specifically, 14-3-3 eta, which plays a regulatory role in chondrogenic differentiation, is significantly overexpressed in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), a chronic inflammatory disease often associated with growth impairment. Overexpression of Gremlin 1, the bone morphogenetic protein antagonist, may play an oncogenic role in carcinomas of the uterine cervix, lung, ovary, kidney, breast, colon, pancreas, and sarcoma, since it functions by interaction with the 14-3-3 eta domain. Therefore, Gremlin 1 and its binding protein 14-3-3 eta could be appropriate targets for developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against human cancers. 14-3-3 domain is an essential part of 14-3-3 proteins, a ubiquitous class of regulatory, phosphoserine/threonine-binding proteins found in all eukaryotic cells, including yeast, protozoa and mammalian cells.
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