Overview:

Thymus β4 is a member of thymosin β family. Thymus β4 consists of 43 amino acids and is hydrophilic.

 

Application prospect:

The latest research shows that the expression level of β4 gene in acetic acid thymus is positively correlated with cancer cell metastasis and is closely related to tumor apoptosis.  This provides a new way of thinking for finding new methods to treat cancer, thus having broad prospects for new drug development.

 

Biological function and its mechanism of action：

Tβ4 is one of the major actin regulatory molecules in human body, which has multiple biological functions and plays an extremely important role in physiological and pathological processes such as tissue regeneration, remodeling, wound healing, maintenance of actin balance, tumor onset and metastasis, apoptosis, inflammation, angiogenesis, hair follicle development, etc.  1. Actin, an actin regulatory factor, accounts for about 10% of the total protein in non-muscle cells and is an important component required for cell structure, cell movement and wound healing.  Tβ4 in cells is sufficient to block all actin and can participate in regulating the polymerization and depolymerization of actin.  Tβ4 can combine with actin monomer in a ratio of 1:1 to prevent the formation of F- actin polymer. The combination of Tβ4 and actin is accompanied by dissociation of bound water, and its C end is combined with actin His-40, resulting in changes in the conformation of actin monomer.  Tβ4 contains an actin binding domain (LKKTChemicalbookET) in its molecular structure, which is the main electrostatic contact site. Its N-terminal pre-segment can inhibit the polymerization of actin through steric hindrance. When acting alone, Tβ4 can inhibit the polymerization of actin and the exchange of nucleosides on actin, which is opposite to that of another actin binding protein Profiling, which can promote the exchange of ADP and ATP and accelerate the assembly of actin. Tβ4 and Profiling can coordinate the assembly of actin.  Tβ4 can regulate the transformation between G- actin and F- actin.  It is reported that in highly mobile blood cells, the concentration of Tβ4 reaches 300pmol, while the concentration required for Tβ4 to bind G- actin is less than 20pmol；;  The depolymerization ability of F- actin decreases with the increase of concentration of Tβ4, which may be the reason why Tβ4 has the function of regulating microfilament system in cells.

 

Usage:

Thymus acetate β4 has the following uses: 1. Thymus acetate β4 is related to various tumors, including colon cancer, melanoma, fibrosarcoma, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer, etc. Studies on thymus acetate β4 and tumors show that it can promote tumor invasion and metastasis in coordination with various factors.  2. The role of thymus β4 in the repair of cardiac injury In the acute phase of myocardial infarction, a large number of myocardial cells are ischemic and necrotic, leading to cardiac function damage, and eventually progression to heart failure.  Studies have proved that acetic acid thymus β4 can protect myocardial cells.