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DOI: 10.1055/s-2002-38243
Aortic Carboxypeptidase-Like Protein (ACLP): What is a Protein with a Name Like That Doing in Adipose Tissue?
Publication History
Received 4 October 2002
Accepted after revision 19 November 2002
Publication Date:
27 March 2003 (online)


Introduction
Aortic carboxypeptidase-like protein (ACLP) was originally cloned from aortic vascular smooth-muscle cells. It has been chosen as a subject for a hypothesis paper in this current issue of the journal due to its recent identification as a protein that is also expressed in adipose cells. Current data indicate its expression is downregulated during the early phase of the differentiation of fibroblast-like preadipose cells into mature adipose cells (adipogenesis). Remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a critical early event in adipogenesis, and ACLP may have the potential to interact with matrix components.