PZP

gene
On this page

Also known as CPAMD6

Summary

PZP (PZP alpha-2-macroglobulin like, HGNC:9750) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 12p13.31, encoding Pregnancy zone protein (P20742). Is able to inhibit all four classes of proteinases by a unique ’trapping’ mechanism.

The protein encoded by this gene is highly expressed in late-pregnancy serum and is similar in structure to alpha-2-macroglobulin. The encoded protein, which acts as a homotetramer, inhibits the activity of all four classes of proteinases. This protein contains cleavage sites for several proteinases. Upon binding of a proteinase, the conformation of this protein changes to trap the proteinase, limiting its activity. This protein appears to be elevated in the sera of presymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Source: NCBI Gene 5858 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

  • GWAS associations: 8
  • Clinical variants (ClinVar): 9 total
  • MANE Select transcript: NM_002864

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

FieldValue
HGNC IDHGNC:9750
Approved symbolPZP
NamePZP alpha-2-macroglobulin like
Location12p13.31
Locus typegene with protein product
StatusApproved
AliasesCPAMD6
Ensembl geneENSG00000126838
Ensembl biotypeprotein_coding
OMIM176420
Entrez5858

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 12 — 6 protein_coding, 5 protein_coding_CDS_not_defined, 1 nonsense_mediated_decay

ENST00000261336, ENST00000535230, ENST00000539983, ENST00000540995, ENST00000543108, ENST00000546116, ENST00000546197, ENST00000882536, ENST00000882537, ENST00000882538, ENST00000882539, ENST00000882540

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_002864 NM_002864

CCDS: CCDS8600

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000261336 — 36 exons

ExonStartEnd
ENSE0000071819592025259202684
ENSE0000116155092082599208395
ENSE0000163421692023199202371
ENSE0000178767992037689203951
ENSE0000190665191488409148994
ENSE0000346384591584209158576
ENSE0000346401391577679157841
ENSE0000348151791506449150746
ENSE0000348718791516049151672
ENSE0000348732691495619149602
ENSE0000350251591641339164259
ENSE0000350354391688699168974
ENSE0000350635491528249152951
ENSE0000350996391531259153343
ENSE0000351189491921939192256
ENSE0000351714991599389160025
ENSE0000354269091651399165367
ENSE0000354311791636689163789
ENSE0000354672791694309169591
ENSE0000355737192003649200448
ENSE0000357606191940779194238
ENSE0000357638892008929201060
ENSE0000358211991970129197123
ENSE0000360541291819759182117
ENSE0000360567391809839181132
ENSE0000361164891522209152310
ENSE0000361608291546169154839
ENSE0000361919691571759157355
ENSE0000362375691660529166202
ENSE0000363354291610339161116
ENSE0000363734691925129192739
ENSE0000364490791603149160490
ENSE0000364764391965719196685
ENSE0000365035191625979162648
ENSE0000366860092013279201347
ENSE0000367333191963309196439

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth ubiquitous, 178 present calls, max score 93.35.

FANTOM5 (CAGE): breadth tissue_specific, TPM avg 0.2279 / max 142.8512, expressed in 24 samples.

FANTOM5 promoters (2 alternative TSS)

Promoter IDTPM avgSamples expressed
1294030.202822
1294040.02516

Top tissues by expression

288 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

TissueAnatomy IDExpression scoreQuality
bronchial epithelial cellCL:000232893.35gold quality
epithelium of bronchusUBERON:000203192.69gold quality
bronchusUBERON:000218591.66gold quality
mucosa of paranasal sinusUBERON:000503087.74gold quality
liverUBERON:000210784.80gold quality
right lobe of liverUBERON:000111483.98gold quality
male germ line stem cell (sensu Vertebrata) in testisCL:0000089 ∩ UBERON:000047380.60gold quality
epithelium of nasopharynxUBERON:000195180.56gold quality
spermCL:000001978.86silver quality
olfactory segment of nasal mucosaUBERON:000538678.75gold quality
male germ cellCL:000001578.21silver quality
endothelial cellCL:000011575.30silver quality
cervix squamous epitheliumUBERON:000692274.28gold quality
apex of heartUBERON:000209874.24gold quality
nasal cavity epitheliumUBERON:000538472.20silver quality
hair follicleUBERON:000207371.70gold quality
ileal mucosaUBERON:000033170.80silver quality
olfactory bulbUBERON:000226468.89gold quality
type B pancreatic cellCL:000016968.78gold quality
diaphragmUBERON:000110368.40gold quality
corpus callosumUBERON:000233668.20gold quality
tibialis anteriorUBERON:000138568.15silver quality
calcaneal tendonUBERON:000370168.14gold quality
sural nerveUBERON:001548868.02gold quality
lungUBERON:000204866.08gold quality
thymusUBERON:000237066.02gold quality
nasal cavity mucosaUBERON:000182665.66gold quality
endometrium epitheliumUBERON:000481165.63gold quality
pancreatic ductal cellCL:000207965.50silver quality
epithelial cell of pancreasCL:000008365.10gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 3 experiment(s), a significant marker in 2.

ExperimentMarker?Max mean expression
E-CURD-6yes111.82
E-ANND-3yes8.75
E-MTAB-7606no126.13

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

miRNA regulators (miRDB)

9 targeting PZP, top 30 by miRDB confidence (max_score; target_count = how many genes the miRNA targets in total — lower means more specific):

miRNAMax scoreAvg scoremiRNA target_count
HSA-MIR-545-3P99.9570.742783
HSA-MIR-1212399.5271.792990
HSA-MIR-122B-5P99.4670.811457
HSA-MIR-429199.2068.882969
HSA-MIR-892C-5P99.1670.562116
HSA-MIR-6868-3P98.6369.642259
HSA-MIR-506-5P98.0267.411065
HSA-MIR-5585-5P97.9568.801024
HSA-MIR-397696.6767.791187

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 11)

  • Differential binding to ldl receptor related protein (PMID:11811950)
  • A new purification methodology was used on the C-terminal peptide fragment of PZP. (PMID:17257854)
  • Quantitative measurements using a multiple reaction monitoring assay showed a significant increase in plasma pregnancy-zone protein in presymptomatic Alzheimer disease compared with controls (PMID:21879768)
  • The data of this study link the finding of elevated serum PZP levels with the characteristic Alzheimer’s Disease pathology and identify PZP as a novel component in Alzheimer’s Disease. (PMID:25737043)
  • Inflammation-associated LRG and PZP may be novel biomarkers of early-onset myocardial infarction (PMID:30411527)
  • stabilizes misfolded proteins including preeclampsia- and Alzheimer’s-associated amyloid beta peptide (PMID:30850528)
  • Genetic ablation of pregnancy zone protein promotes breast cancer progression by activating TGF-beta/SMAD signaling. (PMID:33057846)
  • Pregnancy Zone Protein (PZP) is significantly upregulated in the decidua of recurrent and spontaneous miscarriage and negatively correlated to Glycodelin A (GdA). (PMID:33388716)
  • Hypermethylation of the PZP gene is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation, invasion and migration. (PMID:33471436)
  • The Pregnancy Zone Protein (PZP) is significantly downregulated in the placenta of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome patients. (PMID:35843132)
  • High-Level Secretion of Pregnancy Zone Protein Is a Novel Biomarker of DNA Damage-Induced Senescence and Promotes Spontaneous Senescence. (PMID:37831546)

Cross-species orthologs

26 orthologs

OrganismSymbolGene ID
danio_reriosi:dkey-46g23.5ENSDARG00000008835
danio_reriosi:dkey-52d15.3ENSDARG00000041645
danio_reriosi:dkey-105h12.2ENSDARG00000041685
danio_rerioa2mlENSDARG00000056314
danio_reriozgc:171426ENSDARG00000074764
danio_reriozgc:165518ENSDARG00000075737
danio_reriozgc:165453ENSDARG00000078183
danio_reriosi:ch211-212c13.8ENSDARG00000078757
danio_reriosi:ch211-212c13.10ENSDARG00000093199
danio_rerioa2ml2ENSDARG00000097105
ENSDARG00000100979
danio_reriozgc:171445ENSDARG00000115205
danio_reriosi:dkey-46g23.2ENSDARG00000115817
danio_reriosi:dkey-46g23.3ENSDARG00000116005
mus_musculusMug2ENSMUSG00000030131
mus_musculusMug1ENSMUSG00000059908
mus_musculusGm7298ENSMUSG00000108022
rattus_norvegicusCpamd8ENSRNOG00000065350
rattus_norvegicusMug1l1ENSRNOG00000070375
rattus_norvegicusENSRNOG00000075610
rattus_norvegicusENSRNOG00000091232
drosophila_melanogasterTep4FBGN0041180
drosophila_melanogasterTep3FBGN0041181
drosophila_melanogasterTep2FBGN0041182
drosophila_melanogasterTep1FBGN0041183
caenorhabditis_eleganstep-1WBGENE00013969

Paralogs (8): C5 (ENSG00000106804), C3 (ENSG00000125730), CD109 (ENSG00000156535), CPAMD8 (ENSG00000160111), A2ML1 (ENSG00000166535), A2M (ENSG00000175899), C4B (ENSG00000224389), C4A (ENSG00000244731)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Pregnancy zone proteinP20742 (reviewed: P20742)

Alternative names: C3 and PZP-like alpha-2-macroglobulin domain-containing protein 6

All UniProt accessions (2): P20742, F5GXY0

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Is able to inhibit all four classes of proteinases by a unique ’trapping’ mechanism. This protein has a peptide stretch, called the ‘bait region’ which contains specific cleavage sites for different proteinases. When a proteinase cleaves the bait region, a conformational change is induced in the protein which traps the proteinase. The entrapped enzyme remains active against low molecular weight substrates (activity against high molecular weight substrates is greatly reduced). Following cleavage in the bait region a thioester bond is hydrolyzed and mediates the covalent binding of the protein to the proteinase.

Subunit / interactions. Homotetramer, which consists of two pairs of disulfide-linked chains.

Subcellular location. Secreted.

Tissue specificity. Plasma. Prominent constituent of late-pregnancy sera.

Similarity. Belongs to the protease inhibitor I39 (alpha-2-macroglobulin) family.

Isoforms (2)

UniProt IDNamesCanonical?
P20742-11yes
P20742-22

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_002855* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

IDNameType
IPR001599Macroglobln_a2Domain
IPR002890MG2Domain
IPR008930Terpenoid_cyclase/PrenylTrfaseHomologous_superfamily
IPR009048A-macroglobulin_rcpt-bdDomain
IPR010916TonB_box_CSConserved_site
IPR011625A2M_N_BRDDomain
IPR011626Alpha-macroglobulin_TEDDomain
IPR013783Ig-like_foldHomologous_superfamily
IPR014756Ig_E-setHomologous_superfamily
IPR019742MacrogloblnA2_CSConserved_site
IPR036595A-macroglobulin_rcpt-bd_sfHomologous_superfamily
IPR040839MG4Domain
IPR041555MG3Domain
IPR041813A2M_TEDDomain
IPR047565Alpha-macroglob_thiol-ester_clConserved_site
IPR050473A2M/Complement_sysFamily

Pfam: PF00207, PF01835, PF07677, PF07678, PF07703, PF17789, PF17791

UniProt features (26 total): glycosylation site 10, sequence variant 8, splice variant 3, signal peptide 1, chain 1, cross-link 1, region of interest 1, sequence conflict 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

ModelpLDDTFraction very-high
AF-P20742-F181.870.29

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Post-translational modifications (1): 978–981

Glycosylation sites (10): 932, 997, 1430, 54, 69, 246, 392, 406, 753, 875

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

0 pathways

MSigDB gene sets: 63 (showing top): MODULE_379, BLALOCK_ALZHEIMERS_DISEASE_UP, HSIAO_LIVER_SPECIFIC_GENES, CAIRO_HEPATOBLASTOMA_DN, GOBP_MULTI_MULTICELLULAR_ORGANISM_PROCESS, BROWN_MYELOID_CELL_DEVELOPMENT_UP, MODULE_242, ZHONG_SECRETOME_OF_LUNG_CANCER_AND_ENDOTHELIUM, MODULE_104, GOCC_BLOOD_MICROPARTICLE, GOMF_PEPTIDASE_REGULATOR_ACTIVITY, BOCHKIS_FOXA2_TARGETS, GOMF_PROTEASE_BINDING, GOMF_SERINE_TYPE_ENDOPEPTIDASE_INHIBITOR_ACTIVITY, GOMF_ENZYME_INHIBITOR_ACTIVITY

GO Biological Process (1): female pregnancy (GO:0007565)

GO Molecular Function (4): protease binding (GO:0002020), endopeptidase inhibitor activity (GO:0004866), serine-type endopeptidase inhibitor activity (GO:0004867), peptidase inhibitor activity (GO:0030414)

GO Cellular Component (5): extracellular region (GO:0005576), obsolete extracellular space (GO:0005615), extracellular exosome (GO:0070062), blood microparticle (GO:0072562), extracellular matrix (GO:0031012)

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

CategoryTerms
cellular anatomical structure2
multi-organism reproductive process1
multi-multicellular organism process1
enzyme binding1
endopeptidase activity1
peptidase inhibitor activity1
endopeptidase regulator activity1
serine-type endopeptidase activity1
endopeptidase inhibitor activity1
enzyme inhibitor activity1
peptidase activity1
peptidase regulator activity1
extracellular vesicle1
extracellular region1
external encapsulating structure1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

874 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein AProtein BPartner UniProtScore
PZPCTRB2Q6GPI1822
PZPCTRB1P17538755
PZPSERPINF2P08697585
PZPBRPF1P55201571
PZPFGGP02679494
PZPFGAP02671466
PZPFN1P02751461
PZPMEAF6Q9HAF1450
PZPMMP9P14780449
PZPSHBGP04278446
PZPPAEPP09466446
PZPSERPINF1P36955422
PZPADH4P08319412
PZPKLK7P49862405
PZPMLLT10P55197400

IntAct

15 interactions, top by confidence:

ABTypeScore
CFTRESYT2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.710
DEFA6EXTL3psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.530
PZPVDAC2psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
PZPA2Mpsi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)0.400
TUBGCP4PZPpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
TMEM248PKD2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
MAPTLANCL1psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
MAPTNCANpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
Mpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
repDDX3Xpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
ATG16L1ESYT2psi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350
CCL18PZPpsi-mi:“MI:0914”(association)0.350

BioGRID (24): PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), VDAC2 (Proximity Label-MS), PZP (Reconstituted Complex), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), A2M (Affinity Capture-MS), TGFB1 (Reconstituted Complex), TGFB2 (Reconstituted Complex), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS), PZP (Affinity Capture-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: A0AAQ4VMX2, A6X935, A8K2U0, I2C090, P01023, P01029, P01030, P01031, P06238, P06684, P06756, P08649, P08650, P0C0L4, P0C0L5, P14046, P19069, P19827, P20740, P20742, P24063, P28665, P28666, P43406, P61625, P79263, P80746, P97278, P98093, Q03626, Q06274, Q0VCM5, Q14624, Q29052, Q3T052, Q3UU35, Q5R4N8, Q61702, Q61838, Q63041

Diamond homologs: A8K2U0, P01023, P06238, P14046, P20739, P20740, P20742, P28665, P28666, Q03626, Q3UU35, Q5R4N8, Q61838, Q63041, Q6GQT1, Q6IE52, Q6ZMU1, Q7SIH1, P20738, Q6IE37, C9XI63, P20737, Q6YHK3, Q8IZJ3, Q8R422, Q9GYW4, P23667, Q8YM40, A0AAQ4VMX2, A0RZC6, P01024, P01026, P01029, P01030, P08649, P0C0L4, P0C0L5, P19069, Q0ZZJ6

SIGNOR signaling

4 interactions.

AEffectBMechanism
MMP9“down-regulates quantity by destabilization”PZPcleavage
MMP2“down-regulates quantity by destabilization”PZPcleavage
PZP“down-regulates activity”MMP9binding
PZP“down-regulates activity”MMP2binding

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

9 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

ClassificationCount (floor)
Pathogenic0
Likely pathogenic0
Uncertain significance3
Likely benign1
Benign1

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

4466 predictions. Top by Δscore:

VariantEffectΔscore
12:9150639:CTCA:Cdonor_loss1.0000
12:9150640:TCAC:Tdonor_loss1.0000
12:9150641:CACC:Cdonor_loss1.0000
12:9150642:A:Tdonor_loss1.0000
12:9150643:C:CAdonor_loss1.0000
12:9150643:CCTGT:Cdonor_gain1.0000
12:9150742:GTCAC:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150743:TCAC:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150744:CAC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150744:CACC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150745:AC:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150746:CC:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150746:CCTGA:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
12:9150747:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9150747:CTGA:Cacceptor_loss1.0000
12:9152311:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9152818:TCTTA:Tdonor_loss1.0000
12:9152819:CTTA:Cdonor_loss1.0000
12:9152820:TTAC:Tdonor_loss1.0000
12:9152821:TACCT:Tdonor_loss1.0000
12:9152822:A:ACdonor_gain1.0000
12:9152823:C:Adonor_loss1.0000
12:9152823:C:CCdonor_gain1.0000
12:9152947:GATGT:Gacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9152948:ATGT:Aacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9152949:TGT:Tacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9152952:C:Aacceptor_loss1.0000
12:9152952:C:CCacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9152954:G:Cacceptor_gain1.0000
12:9157765:A:ACdonor_gain1.0000

AlphaMissense

9663 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

VariantProtein changeam_pathogenicity
12:9154628:G:CF1254L0.995
12:9154628:G:TF1254L0.995
12:9154630:A:GF1254L0.995
12:9165315:A:GW771R0.992
12:9165315:A:TW771R0.992
12:9153343:C:GD1259H0.989
12:9159973:A:CF1034L0.989
12:9159973:A:TF1034L0.989
12:9159975:A:GF1034L0.989
12:9160417:G:CN982K0.989
12:9160417:G:TN982K0.989
12:9165313:C:AW771C0.989
12:9165313:C:GW771C0.989
12:9153330:G:TA1263D0.986
12:9159979:G:CS1032R0.986
12:9159979:G:TS1032R0.986
12:9159981:T:GS1032R0.986
12:9160010:A:GL1022P0.986
12:9160420:C:AQ981H0.986
12:9160420:C:GQ981H0.986
12:9166077:A:GW745R0.986
12:9166077:A:TW745R0.986
12:9200909:A:GF218S0.985
12:9160424:T:AE980V0.984
12:9153322:C:GA1266P0.983
12:9158542:C:GA1058P0.983
12:9158574:A:GL1047P0.983
12:9166069:C:AW747C0.983
12:9166069:C:GW747C0.983
12:9153327:A:GL1264P0.982

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000045190 (12:9173936 C>A), RS1000129083 (12:9176739 T>A), RS1000187059 (12:9167587 G>A), RS1000319959 (12:9167336 C>G), RS1000489480 (12:9160970 C>T), RS1000511005 (12:9180324 A>C), RS1000570468 (12:9142575 T>C), RS1000589153 (12:9154393 G>A,C), RS1000602593 (12:9199696 A>G), RS1000633611 (12:9199361 A>G), RS1000763302 (12:9194654 C>T), RS1000802251 (12:9173635 G>T), RS1000849216 (12:9206017 C>T), RS1000860424 (12:9179028 G>A,C), RS1000994902 (12:9172896 C>T)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:176420 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

8 associations (top):

StudyTraitp-value
GCST000767_1Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease histology (AST)1.000000e-06
GCST001762_79Obesity-related traits9.000000e-06
GCST003997_15Myopia4.000000e-12
GCST006291_40Spherical equivalent or myopia (age of diagnosis)4.000000e-12
GCST006427_26Depression in smokers7.000000e-07
GCST010002_207Refractive error1.000000e-40
GCST010204_125Low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels5.000000e-12
GCST010396_120Gut microbiota (bacterial taxa, hurdle binary method)7.000000e-07

EFO canonical traits (4, from GWAS)

EFO IDTrait name
EFO:0005189respiratory quotient
EFO:0004847age at onset
EFO:0004611low density lipoprotein cholesterol measurement
EFO:0007874gut microbiome measurement

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: no

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

CTD chemical–gene interactions

25 total (human), top 25 by PubMed support.

ChemicalActions (top 5)PubMed papers
Benzo(a)pyreneincreases expression, increases methylation2
bisphenol Adecreases methylation1
sodium arsenitedecreases expression1
chromium hexavalent ionincreases expression1
licochalcone Bdecreases expression1
Arsenic Trioxidedecreases expression1
Air Pollutantsaffects expression, increases abundance1
Cadmiumaffects binding1
Carmustinedecreases expression1
Diethylhexyl Phthalatedecreases expression1
Estradioldecreases expression1
Ivermectindecreases expression1
Leadaffects binding1
Nickelaffects binding1
Ozoneaffects expression, increases abundance1
Phenobarbitalaffects expression1
Phthalic Acidsincreases methylation1
Tobacco Smoke Pollutiondecreases expression1
Valproic Aciddecreases expression1
Zincaffects binding1
8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphateincreases expression1
Aflatoxin B1decreases expression, decreases methylation1
Palmitic Aciddecreases expression1
Copper Sulfatedecreases expression1
Genisteinincreases expression1

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.