Recombinant Rat Gremlin-1 (Grem1)

Function

Cytokine that may play an important role during carcinogenesis and metanephric kidney organogenesis, as a BMP antagonist required for early limb outgrowth and patterning in maintaining the FGF4-SHH feedback loop. Down-regulates the BMP4 signaling in a dose-dependent manner (By similarity). Antagonist of BMP2; inhibits BMP2-mediated differentiation of osteoblasts (in vitro) (By similarity). Acts as inhibitor of monocyte chemotaxis (PubMed:15528323). Can inhibit the growth or viability of normal cells but not transformed cells when is overexpressed

Subcellular Location

Secreted

Tissue Specificity

Highly expressed in the brain, kidney, spleen, and testis and weakly expressed in the lung and liver. Predominantly expressed in differentiated cells as neurons in brain, type I cells in lung and globlet cells in intestine

Subunit

Homodimer; can also form homooligomers. Interacts with BMP2; can form higher oligomers with BMP2 (By similarity). Interacts with SLIT1 and SLIT2 in a glycosylation-dependent manner (PubMed:15528323)

• Topol L.Z. et al. Identification of drm, a novel gene whose expression is suppressed in transformed cells and which can inhibit growth of normal but not transformed cells in culture. — Mol. Cell. Biol. (1997)
• Chen B. et al. Bone morphogenetic protein antagonists Drm/Gremlin and Dan interact with Slits and act as negative regulators of monocyte chemotaxis. — J. Immunol. (2004)