Rajasekaran Ayyappan K, Anilkumar Gopalakrishnapillai, Christiansen Jason J
Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Ave., Rm. 13-344, CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2005 May;288(5):C975-81. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00506.2004.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a metallopeptidase expressed predominantly in prostate cancer (PCa) cells. PSMA is considered a biomarker for PCa and is under intense investigation for use as an imaging and therapeutic target. Although the clinical utility of PSMA in the detection and treatment of PCa is evident and is being pursued, very little is known about its basic biological function in PCa cells. The purpose of this review is to highlight the possibility that PSMA might be a multifunctional protein. We suggest that PSMA may function as a receptor internalizing a putative ligand, an enzyme playing a role in nutrient uptake, and a peptidase involved in signal transduction in prostate epithelial cells. Insights into the possible functions of PSMA should improve the diagnostic and therapeutic values of this clinically important molecule.
前列腺特异性膜抗原（PSMA）是一种主要在前列腺癌细胞（PCa）中表达的金属肽酶。PSMA被认为是前列腺癌的生物标志物，目前正作为成像和治疗靶点进行深入研究。尽管PSMA在前列腺癌检测和治疗中的临床应用已很明显且正在进行中，但对其在前列腺癌细胞中的基本生物学功能却知之甚少。本综述的目的是强调PSMA可能是一种多功能蛋白的可能性。我们认为，PSMA可能作为内化假定配体的受体、在营养物质摄取中发挥作用的酶以及参与前列腺上皮细胞信号转导的肽酶。深入了解PSMA的可能功能应能提高这一临床重要分子的诊断和治疗价值。
