Pleiotropin/Heparin-binding neurite outgrowth-promoting factor is a member of a highly conserved human gene family of proteins.
It exhibits neurite outgrowth-promoting activity and may play a role in nervous tissue development and/or maintenance.
Expression of this factor is developmentally regulated, increasing in the brain during embryogenesis and reaching its
maximum expression at the time of birth. The gene codes for a 168-residue protein that is a precursor for a previously
described brain-derived heparin-binding protein of 136 amino acids
General function
Ligand, Growth factor
Comment
Cellular localization
Secreted
Comment
Ovarian function
Comment
Nakanishi T, et al 1997 reported that pleiotropin gene was expressed in six normal ovaries and in 24 tumors (nine
benign, two borderline, and 13 malignant tumors).
Expression regulated by
Comment
Ovarian localization
, Follicular Fluid
Comment
Ohyama Y, et al 2000 reported the isolation and identification of midkine and pleiotrophin in bovine follicular fluid.
Two distinct
heparin-binding polypeptides were isolated from bovine follicular fluid by successive
chromatographies. N-Terminal and tryptic peptide fragment analysis of these polypeptides revealed
that they are identical to midkine (MK) and pleiotrophin (PTN), respectively, which form a new
family of heparin-binding growth/differentiation factors.
Follicle stages
Comment
Phenotypes
Mutations
1 mutations
Species: mouse
Mutation name: None
type: null mutation fertility: subfertile Comment: Female infertility in mice deficient in midkine and pleiotrophin, which form a distinct family of growth factors. Muramatsu H et al. Midkine and pleiotrophin form a family of growth factors. Mice deficient in one of the genes show few abnormalities on reproduction and development. To understand their roles in these processes, we produced mice deficient in both genes; the double deficient mice were born in only one third the number expected by Mendelian segregation and 4 weeks after birth weighed about half as much as wild-type mice. Most of the female double deficient mice were infertile. In these mice, the numbers of mature follicles and of ova at ovulation were reduced compared to numbers in wild-type mice. Both midkine and pleiotrophin were expressed in the follicular epithelium and granulosa cells of the ovary. The expression of these factors in the uterus was dramatically altered during the estrous cycle. The diestrus and proestrus periods were long and the estrus period was short in the double deficient mice, indicating the role of the factors in the estrous cycle. Furthermore, vaginal abnormality was found in about half of the double deficient mice. These abnormalities in combination resulted in female infertility. Therefore, midkine and pleiotrophin, together with their signaling receptors, play important roles in the female reproductive system.