Mussunoor S, Murray G I
Department of Pathology, University of Aberdeen, UK.
J Pathol. 2008 Oct;216(2):131-40. doi: 10.1002/path.2400.
The annexins are a super-family of closely related calcium and membrane-binding proteins. They have a diverse range of cellular functions that include vesicle trafficking, cell division, apoptosis, calcium signalling and growth regulation. Many studies have shown the annexins to be among the genes whose expression are consistently differentially altered in neoplasia. Some annexins show increased expression in specific types of tumours, while others show loss of expression. Mechanistic studies relating the changes in annexin expression to tumour cell function, particularly tumour invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis and drug resistance, are now also emerging. Changes in the expression of individual annexins are associated with particular types of tumour and hence the annexins may also be useful biomarkers in the clinic.
膜联蛋白是一类密切相关的钙结合和膜结合蛋白超家族。它们具有多种细胞功能，包括囊泡运输、细胞分裂、细胞凋亡、钙信号传导和生长调节。许多研究表明，膜联蛋白是肿瘤形成过程中表达持续发生差异改变的基因之一。一些膜联蛋白在特定类型的肿瘤中表达增加，而另一些则表达缺失。目前也出现了将膜联蛋白表达变化与肿瘤细胞功能，特别是肿瘤侵袭和转移、血管生成及耐药性相关联的机制研究。单个膜联蛋白表达的变化与特定类型的肿瘤相关，因此膜联蛋白在临床上也可能是有用的生物标志物。
