Liver Cancer

Methionine Adenosyltransferase II alpha, also known as MAT2a, is a catalytic subunit of methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) and essential enzyme for the catalysis of the principle biological methyl donor, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) from methionine and ATP. MAT2a's heterotetramer structure is composed of 2 catalytic alpha subunits (alpha and alpha’)¹. During development in the adult human liver, MAT2a and its gene products are progressively replaced by MAT1a during fetal liver development².

The NF2 gene, also known as “Merlin”, was discovered through studies into Neurofibromatosis Type II, a rare genetic disease which causes formation of non-malignant, but life-limiting, brain tumors. NF2 encodes a cytoskeletal protein involved in extracellular signalling (i.e. cell-to-cell).

The Merlin protein belongs to the ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) family of tumour suppressor proteins. Encoded by the rather less imaginatively named Neurofibromin 2 (NF2) gene, it is thought to play a role in extracellular signal transduction, linking the cell cytoskeleton with membrane-bound proteins and suppressing several receptors, including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).