Blood vessel epicardial substance

For the BVES stock exchange see Salvadoran Stock Exchange

Blood vessel epicardial substance (BVES) also known as popeye domain-containing protein 1 (POPDC1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the BVES gene.

Bves is a highly conserved, transmembrane protein that is involved in cell adhesion, cell motility, and most recently has been shown to play a role in vesicular transport. Bves is found in a wide variety of organisms (from flies to humans) and is a member of the evolutionarily conserved Popdc family of proteins. Although the precise molecular function of Bves is unknown, disruption of this protein results in developmental defects and impaired cellular processes fundamental to living organisms.

Discovery

Bves was discovered simultaneously by two independent labs in 1999 (Bves was also named Popdc1 at the time of discovery; the current accepted convention is Bves). Although initially isolated from cardiac tissue, it was later revealed that Bves is highly expressed in muscle, epithelial and brain tissue. Most studies have focused on determining the function of Bves in epithelial tissue at the cellular level.