GPNMB

Glycoprotein nmb (GPNMB), also known as NMB or HGFIN, is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein and it shows homology to a melanocyte-specific protein, the pMEL17 precursor. Human GPNMB protein is 560 amino acid (aa) in length and its precursor consists of a 21-aa signal sequence, a 465-aa luminal/extracellular domain, a 21-aa transmembrane segment and a 53-aa cytoplasmic tail. The expression of this protein has been found in various cell types that include melanocytes, osteoclasts, osteoblasts, dendritic cells, and it is overexpressed in a variety of cancer cells. This protein shows expression in the low metastatic human melanoma cell lines and xenografts but does not express in the high metastatic cell lines. It is reported that GPNMB may play a role in growth delay and reduction of metastatic potential.

The unique expression pattern of GPNMB make it a promising target for immune therapy strategies, such as monoclonal therapeutic antibody and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). It is worth mentioning that GPNMB is the target of the ADC glembatumumab vedotin (also known as CDX-011 or CR011-vcMMAE) which is in clinical trials for melanoma and breast cancer.

Gene ID: 10457
UniProt ID: Q14956