Role in Disease
tTG is best known for its link with celiac disease. Anti-transglutaminase antibodies (ATA) result in a form of gluten sensitivity in which a cellular response to Triticeae glutens that are crosslinked to tTG are able to stimulate transglutaminase specific B-cell responses that eventually result in the production of ATA IgA and IgG.
tTG is believed to be involved in several neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer, Parkinson and Huntington diseases. Such neurological diseases are characterized in part by the abnormal aggregation of proteins due to the increased activity of protein crosslinking in the affected brain. Additionally, specific proteins associated with these disorders have been found to be in vivo and in vitro substrates of tTG. Although tTG is up regulated in the areas of the brain affected by Huntington's disease, a recent study showed that increasing levels of tTG do not affect the onset and/or progression of the disease in mice.
Recent studies suggest that tTG also plays a role in inflammation, and tumor biology. tTG expression is elevated in multiple cancer cell types and is implicated in drug resistance and metastasis due to its ability to promote mesenchymal transition and stem cell like properties.
Read more about this topic: Tissue Transglutaminase
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