Gene summary
SPARC (Secreted Protein Acidic And Cysteine Rich) is a Protein Coding gene. Diseases associated with SPARC include osteogenesis imperfecta, type xvii and osteogenesis imperfecta, type iv. Among its related pathways are Platelet activation, signaling and aggregation and Degradation of the extracellular matrix. GO annotations related to this gene include calcium ion binding and extracellular matrix binding. An important paralog of this gene is SPARCL1. This gene encodes a cysteine-rich acidic matrix-associated protein. The encoded protein is required for the collagen in bone to become calcified but is also involved in extracellular matrix synthesis and promotion of changes to cell shape. The gene product has been associated with tumor suppression but has also been correlated with metastasis based on changes to cell shape which can promote tumor cell invasion. Three transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.
Antigen Description
Osteogenesis imperfecta 17 (OI17) [MIM:616507]: An autosomal recessive form of osteogenesis imperfecta, a connective tissue disorder characterized by low bone mass, bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures after minimal trauma. Disease severity ranges from very mild forms without fractures to intrauterine fractures and perinatal lethality. Extraskeletal manifestations, which affect a variable number of patients, are dentinogenesis imperfecta, hearing loss, and blue sclerae. Note=The disease is caused by mutations affecting the gene represented in this entry. Osteonectin (ON) also known as secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) or basement-membrane protein 40 (BM-40) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SPARC gene. Osteonectin is an acidic extracellular matrix glycoprotein that plays a vital role in bone mineralization, cell-matrix interactions, and collagen binding. Osteonectin also increases the production and activity of matrix metalloproteinases, a function important to invading cancer cells within bone. Additional functions of osteonectin beneficial to tumor cells include angiogenesis, proliferation and migration. Overexpression of osteonectin is reported in many human cancers such as breast, prostate and colon.