PCPE-2 was discovered at the beginning of this century, and was soon identified as a close homolog of PCPE-1 (procollagen C-proteinase enhancer 1). After the demonstration that it could also stimulate the proteolytic maturation of fibrillar procollagens by BMP-1/tolloid-like proteinases (BTPs), PCPE-2 did not attract much attention as it was thought to fulfill the same functions as PCPE-1 which was already well-described. However, the tissue distribution of PCPE-2 shows both common points and significant differences with PCPE-1, suggesting that their activities are not fully overlapping. Also, the recently established connections between PCPE-2 (gene name PCOLCE2) and several important diseases such as atherosclerosis, inflammatory diseases and cancer have highlighted the need for a thorough reappraisal of the in vivo roles of this regulatory protein. In this context, the recent finding that, while retaining the ability to bind fibrillar procollagens and to activate their C-terminal maturation, PCPE-2 can also bind BTPs and inhibit their activity has substantially extended its potential functions. In this review, we describe the current knowledge about PCPE-2 with a focus on collagen fibrillogenesis, lipid metabolism and inflammation, and discuss how we could further advance our understanding of PCPE-2-dependent biological processes.

中文翻译：

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PCPE-2（前胶原 C 蛋白酶增强剂-2）：PCPE-1 的异卵双胞胎


PCPE-2于本世纪初被发现，并很快被鉴定为PCPE-1（前胶原C-蛋白酶增强剂1）的密切同源物。在证明 PCPE-2 还可以通过 BMP-1/tolloid 样蛋白酶 (BTP) 刺激纤维状前胶原蛋白水解成熟后，PCPE-2 并没有引起太多关注，因为它被认为具有与 PCPE-1 相同的功能。已经有很好的描述了。然而，PCPE-2的组织分布与PCPE-1既有共同点，又有显着差异，表明它们的活性并不完全重叠。此外，最近在 PCPE-2（基因名 PCOLCE2）与动脉粥样硬化、炎症性疾病和癌症等几种重要疾病之间建立的联系强调需要彻底重新评估这种调节蛋白的体内作用。在此背景下，最近的发现表明，PCPE-2 在保留结合纤维状前胶原并激活其 C 末端成熟的能力的同时，还可以结合 BTP 并抑制其活性，这大大扩展了其潜在功能。在这篇综述中，我们描述了有关 PCPE-2 的当前知识，重点是胶原纤维生成、脂质代谢和炎症，并讨论了如何进一步加深对 PCPE-2 依赖性生物过程的理解。