NCBI Summary:
This gene encodes a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin (ADAMTS) motifs-3, which is a member of the ADAMTS protein family. Members of the family share several distinct protein modules, including a propeptide region, a metalloproteinase domain, a disintegrin-like domain, and a thrombospondin type 1 (TS) motif. Individual members of this family differ in the number of C-terminal TS motifs, and some have unique C-terminal domains. The protein encoded by this gene is the major procollagen II N-propeptidase. A deficiency of this protein may be responsible for dermatosparaxis, a genetic defect of connective tissues.
Madan P et al 2003 reported the expression of Messenger RNA for ADAMTS Subtypes Changes in the Periovulatory Follicle After the Gonadotropin Surge and During Luteal Development and Regression in Cattle.
Extensive remodeling of the extracellular matrix occurs in the ovary during the periovulatory period. Although matrix metalloproteinases and their endogenous inhibitors, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases, are believed to play integral roles in this highly regulated series of cellular events, their specific roles remain unclear. Recent cloning studies have identified a novel family of metalloproteinases, the ADAMTS (A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase with ThromboSpondin motifs) family. The regulated expression of distinct ADAMTS subtypes has been shown to be required for tissue morphogenesis during embryonic development and for maintaining the integrity of tissues in the adult. In these studies, multiple ADAMTS subtypes were found in the bovine ovary using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction strategy. In particular, ADAMTS-1, -2, -3, -4, -5 (also known as ADAMTS-11), -7, -8 and -9 but not ADAMTS-6, -10, or -12 mRNA transcripts were detected in granulosa cells of non-atretic ovarian follicles and corpora lutea. The levels of mRNA for these ovarian ADAMTS were up-, or down-regulated or remained unchanged in the granulosa and/or theca cells of the dominant follicle following the preovulatory surge of gonadotropins depending on the subtype and/or the cell compartment and in the corpus luteum during the luteal phase of the estrous cycle. The complex expression patterns observed for the distinct ADAMTS subtypes in the granulosa and theca cells of the periovulatory follicle and in luteal tissues of the bovine ovary suggest that these novel proteases mediate, at least in part, the remodeling events underlying folliculogenesis and ovulation and the formation, maintenance and regression of the corpus luteum.