ENSA (gene) explained

Alpha-endosulfine is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ENSA gene.^{[1] [2]}

The protein encoded by this gene belongs to a highly conserved cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (ARPP) family. This protein was identified as an endogenous ligand for the sulfonylurea receptor, ABCC8/SUR1. ABCC8 is the regulatory subunit of the ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel, which is located on the plasma membrane of pancreatic beta cells and plays a key role in the control of insulin release from pancreatic beta cells. This protein is thought to be an endogenous regulator of KATP channels. In vitro studies have demonstrated that this protein modulates insulin secretion through the interaction with KATP channel, and this gene has been proposed as a candidate gene for type 2 diabetes. At least eight alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been observed.

Further reading

• Bonaldo MF, Lennon G, Soares MB . Normalization and subtraction: two approaches to facilitate gene discovery . Genome Res. . 6 . 9 . 791–806 . 1997 . 8889548 . 10.1101/gr.6.9.791 . free .
• Héron L . Isolation, characterization, and chromosomal localization of the human ENSA gene that encodes alpha-endosulfine, a regulator of beta-cell K(ATP) channels . Diabetes . 48 . 9 . 1873–6 . 1999 . 10480622 . 10.2337/diabetes.48.9.1873 . Virsolvy A . Apiou F . Le Cam . A. . Bataille . D. .
• Zhang QH . Cloning and Functional Analysis of cDNAs with Open Reading Frames for 300 Previously Undefined Genes Expressed in CD34+ Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells . Genome Res. . 10 . 10 . 1546–60 . 2001 . 11042152 . 10.1101/gr.140200 . 310934 . Ye M . Wu XY . Ren . SX . Zhao . M . Zhao . CJ . Fu . G . Shen . Y . Fan . HY .
• Book: Kim SH, Lubec G . Decreased alpha-endosulfine, an endogenous regulator of ATP-sensitive potassium channels, in brains from adult Down syndrome patients . Protein Expression in Down Syndrome Brain . Journal of Neural Transmission. Supplementum . 61 . 1–9 . 2002 . 11771735 . 10.1007/978-3-7091-6262-0_1. 978-3-211-83704-7 .
• Strausberg RL . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . Feingold EA . Grouse LH . Derge . JG . Klausner . RD . Collins . FS . Wagner . L . Shenmen . CM . Schuler . GD . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Bataille D . Endosulfines: Novel regulators of insulin secretion . Drug News Perspect. . 13 . 8 . 453–62 . 2003 . 12937617 .
• Ota T . Complete sequencing and characterization of 21,243 full-length human cDNAs . Nat. Genet. . 36 . 1 . 40–5 . 2004 . 14702039 . 10.1038/ng1285 . Suzuki Y . Nishikawa T . Otsuki . Tetsuji . Sugiyama . Tomoyasu . Irie . Ryotaro . Wakamatsu . Ai . Hayashi . Koji . Sato . Hiroyuki . free .
• Wang H . Alpha-endosulfine, a positional and functional candidate gene for type 2 diabetes: molecular screening, association studies, and role in reduced insulin secretion . Mol. Genet. Metab. . 81 . 1 . 9–15 . 2004 . 14728986 . 10.1016/j.ymgme.2003.08.003 . Craig RL . Schay J . Chu . W . Das . SK . Zhang . Z . Elbein . SC .
• Thameem F . The transcribed endosulfine alpha gene is located within a type 2 diabetes-linked region on 1q: sequence and expression analysis in Pima Indians . Mol. Genet. Metab. . 81 . 1 . 16–21 . 2004 . 14728987 . 10.1016/j.ymgme.2003.09.013 . Farook VS . Yang X . Lee . YH . Permana . PA . Bogardus . C . Prochazka . M .
• Gabrielsson BG . Molecular characterization of a local sulfonylurea system in human adipose tissue . Mol. Cell. Biochem. . 258 . 1–2 . 65–71 . 2004 . 15030171 . 10.1023/B:MCBI.0000012837.11847.c8 . Karlsson AC . Lönn M . Olofsson . Louise E. . Johansson . Jenny M. . Torgerson . Jarl S. . Sjöström . Lars . Carlsson . Björn . Edén . Staffan . 22988098 .
• Gerhard DS . The Status, Quality, and Expansion of the NIH Full-Length cDNA Project: The Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 . Wagner L . Feingold EA . Shenmen . CM . Grouse . LH . Schuler . G . Klein . SL . Old . S . Rasooly . R .
• Olsen JV . Global, in vivo, and site-specific phosphorylation dynamics in signaling networks . Cell . 127 . 3 . 635–48 . 2006 . 17081983 . 10.1016/j.cell.2006.09.026 . Blagoev B . Gnad F . Macek . Boris . Kumar . Chanchal . Mortensen . Peter . Mann . Matthias . 7827573 . free.
• Ewing RM . Large-scale mapping of human protein–protein interactions by mass spectrometry . Mol. Syst. Biol. . 3 . 1. 89 . 2007 . 17353931 . 10.1038/msb4100134 . 1847948 . Chu P . Elisma F . Li . Hongyan . Taylor . Paul . Climie . Shane . McBroom-Cerajewski . Linda . Robinson . Mark D . O'Connor . Liam .

Notes and References

1. Heron L, Virsolvy A, Peyrollier K, Gribble FM, Le Cam A, Ashcroft FM, Bataille D . Human α-endosulfine, a possible regulator of sulfonylurea-sensitive KATP channel: Molecular cloning, expression and biological properties . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 95 . 14 . 8387–91 . Aug 1998 . 9653196 . 20985 . 10.1073/pnas.95.14.8387 . 1998PNAS...95.8387H . free .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: ENSA endosulfine alpha.