Turu Marta, Slevin Mark, Ethirajan Priya, Luque Ana, Elasbali AbdulBaset, Font Angels, Gaffney John, Cairols Marc, Kumar Pat, Kumar Shant, Krupinski Jerzy
Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Fundacio IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Front Biosci. 2008 May 1;13:6491-500. doi: 10.2741/3169.
Cellular Prion Protein (PrPc) is a ubiquitous glycoprotein present on the surface of endothelial cells. Resting vascular endothelial cells show minimum expression of PrPc and can constitutively release PrPc. PrPc participates in cell survival, differentiation and angiogenesis. During development, neonatal brain endothelial cells transiently express PrPc. Our group recently reported upregulation of PrPc in microvessels from ischemic brain regions in stroke patients. Ischemia/hypoxia induces PrPc expression through the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). All these data suggest that PrPc plays an important role in angiogenic responses. In addition, PrPc participates in cellular function in the central nervous system, since PrPc is also highly expressed in neurons. PrPc binds copper, suggesting a role in copper metabolism. PrPc also protects cells against oxidative stress and it seems to be involved in neuroprotection. Several studies have demonstrated that PrPc prevents cells from apoptosis and subsequent tissue damage. Moreover, PrPc plays an important role in the immune response. Here, we review the multiple functions of PrPc with a special attention to its recently reported role in angiogenesis.
细胞朊蛋白（PrPc）是一种存在于内皮细胞表面的普遍存在的糖蛋白。静息的血管内皮细胞PrPc表达最低，且能组成性释放PrPc。PrPc参与细胞存活、分化和血管生成。在发育过程中，新生脑内皮细胞短暂表达PrPc。我们小组最近报道，中风患者缺血脑区微血管中PrPc上调。缺血/缺氧通过激活细胞外信号调节激酶（ERK）诱导PrPc表达。所有这些数据表明，PrPc在血管生成反应中起重要作用。此外，PrPc参与中枢神经系统的细胞功能，因为PrPc在神经元中也高度表达。PrPc结合铜，提示其在铜代谢中起作用。PrPc还保护细胞免受氧化应激，似乎参与神经保护。多项研究表明，PrPc可防止细胞凋亡及随后的组织损伤。此外，PrPc在免疫反应中起重要作用。在此，我们综述PrPc的多种功能，特别关注其最近报道的在血管生成中的作用。
