Anti-Haptoglobin

0.5mg/ml if reconstituted with 0.2ml sterile DI water. Haptoglobin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HP gene. It is a plasma glycoprotein that binds free hemoglobin, has a tetrameric structure of 2 alpha and 2 beta polypeptides that are covalently associated by disulfide bonds. Haptoglobin is homologous to serine proteases of the chymotrypsinogen family. There are similarities between the primary structures of the alpha chain and of light chains of gamma globulins. The alpha haptoglobin locus is on the long arm of chromosome 16, where its exact cytogenetic location is 16q22.2. A major function of the protein is to bind hemoglobin(Hb) and form a stable Hp-Hb complex and thereby prevent Hb-induced oxidative tissue damage. Haptoglobin is an unusual secretory protein in that it is proteolytically processed in the endoplasmic reticulum and not in the Golgi. Protein function: As a result of hemolysis, hemoglobin is found to accumulate in the kidney and is secreted in the urine. Haptoglobin captures, and combines with free plasma hemoglobin to allow hepatic recycling of heme iron and to prevent kidney damage. Haptoglobin also acts as an antioxidant, has antibacterial activity, and plays a role in modulating many aspects of the acute phase response. Hemoglobin/haptoglobin complexes are rapidly cleared by the macrophage CD163 scavenger receptor expressed on the surface of liver Kupfer cells through an endocytic lysosomal degradation pathway. [The UniProt Consortium]