Lysyl Hydroxylase 2 Antibody #44709

The Extracellular Matrix (ECM) is a complex network of macromolecules that provides structural tissue support to cells in the basement membrane and interstitial matrix. It is composed of many molecules, including proteins, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, and polysaccharides (1,2). One of the major proteins that comprises the ECM, and the human body, is collagen. Collagens are a large family of proteins. They are trimeric molecules comprised of three alpha polypeptide chains that form a triple-helix structure that is characteristic of all collagens (3). The large family of collagens is divided into three subgroups: fibrillar collagens, non-fibril forming collagens, and fibril-associated collagens. These subgroups differ in their structure and supramolecular assembly (3).

Collagen content and abundance determines the nature of the scaffold of the ECM, and is known to influence pathological events such as tumor growth and invasion, and also tissue fibrosis (1). Lysyl Hydroxylase 2 (encoded by the PLOD2 gene), is an important enzyme that mediates the hydroxylation of lysines in collagen-like peptides in the ER, a key step that contributes to cross-linking of collagen fibrils (4). Interestingly, overexpression of Lysyl Hydroxylase 2 observed in multiple cancers, driven potentially through hypoxia-induced mechanisms, is related to a poor prognosis, tumor migration, invasion, and EMT (5,6). Current interest exists in pharmaceutical inhibition of this enzyme for therapeutic intervention to prevent metastasis and tumor spread (6).