A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease 18 (ADAM18)

ADAM18encodes a member of the ADAMfamily. Members of this family are membrane-anchored proteins structurally related to snake venom disintegrins, and have been implicated in a variety of biologic processes involving cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, including fertilization, muscle development, and neurogenesis. The protein encoded by this gene is a sperm surface protein. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.Furthermore, polyclonal antisera raised against human recombinant tMDC III demonstrated the presence of mature protein on human sperm. In common with orthologues from other species, human tMDC III contains a putative integrin-binding glu-cys-asp (ECD) motif, the relevance of which is discussed in the context of a possible role in oolemma binding.