Lokeshwar Vinata B, Selzer Marie G
Department of Urology, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33101, USA.
Semin Cancer Biol. 2008 Aug;18(4):281-7. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2008.03.008. Epub 2008 Mar 26.
Originally termed as the "spreading factor", hyaluronidases (HAases) are present in a variety of toxins and venoms. For example, HAase is the virulent factor of beta-hemolytic Streptococci and it is also present in the venoms of snake, bee, wasp, scorpion, etc, where it aids in the spread of these venoms in the body. In mammals, testicular HAase present in the sperm acrosome is necessary for the fertilization of the ovum. Despite a lot of work on bacterial, invertebrate and testicular HAases, a connection between HAase and cancer was unequivocally established just over a decade ago and the functional significance of HAases in cancer was demonstrated just about a year ago. In this part of the review, we will focus on the recent advances in our understanding of the role of HAases in cancer.
透明质酸酶（HAases）最初被称为“扩散因子”，存在于多种毒素和毒液中。例如，HAase是β-溶血性链球菌的致病因子，它也存在于蛇、蜜蜂、黄蜂、蝎子等的毒液中，在这些毒液中它有助于毒液在体内扩散。在哺乳动物中，精子顶体中存在的睾丸透明质酸酶是卵子受精所必需的。尽管在细菌、无脊椎动物和睾丸透明质酸酶方面进行了大量研究，但HAase与癌症之间的联系直到十多年前才得以明确确立，而HAases在癌症中的功能意义大约在一年前才得到证实。在本综述的这一部分，我们将重点关注我们对HAases在癌症中作用的最新认识进展。
