Abstract:

It has been many years since “the tumor necrosis factor-α-converting enzyme”, also known as ADAM17/TACE, was described as “the enzyme that does it all” because of its role in neurodegenerative diseases and in several physiological processes including proteolysis, adhesion, intracellular signaling, migration and proliferation. ADAM17/TACE is an integral membrane protein that belongs to the disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM)family. Several years ago, Romero-Grimaldi et al. discovered that ADAM17 was involved in the glial/neuronal fate decision of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in vitro, and this was mediated at least in part, by its capacity to facilitate the release of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligand, transforming growth factor alpha (TGFα), thus regulating EGFR activation. EGFR, also referred to as ErbB1, belongs to a family of transmembrane receptors, which activate intracellular signaling cascades leading to the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase-extracellular signal-regulated kinase or phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B. and regulate cell cycle through cyclin expression.