protein_function: Specifically cleaves the zymogen plasminogen to form theactive enzyme plasmin.
Plasminogen activator,urokinase(PLAU, uPA) converts plasminogen to plasmin. Plasmin is involved in processing of amyloid precursor protein and degrades secreted and aggregated amyloid-beta, a hallmark of Alzheimer disease(AD). Urokinase has a molecular mass of about 54 kD and is composed of 2 disulfide-linked chains, A and B, of molecular masses 18 kD and 33 kD, respectively. It localized on 10q24. uPA facilitates cell migration by localizing proteolisys on the cell surface and by inducing intracellular signalling pathways. In human vascular smooth muscle cell(VSMC), uPA stimulates migration via the uPA receptor(uPAR) signalling complex containing TYK2 and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3-K).