Dj-Antitrypsin

Sequencing of the human dj-antitrypsin gene in 1984 initiated an explosion in the study of this disease. Transgenic mice were created to study the effects of dj-anti trypsin deficiency, and cell culture studies of the regulation of the gene became possible. In 1992, D. A. Lomas and colleagues (Lomas et al., 1992) showed that the accumulation of abnormal dj-antitrypsin in the ER of the liver was the result of polymerization of dj-antitrypsin.This discovery set the stage for the study of the effects of this polymerized material on the liver, which it is hoped will allow the mechanism of liver disease associated with dj-antitrypsin deficiency to be determined. 

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