Department of Pathology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine 303 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Am J Transl Res. 2009 May 25;1(3):312-25.
CAAX proteins are widely involved in global cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, and carcinogenesis. As an important modulator of biological activity, signal transduction via protein prenylation is a crucial step for most CAAX protein functions, particularly for anchoring these CAAX proteins to cellular membrane system. With a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction and intracellular messaging in this process, CAAX protein prenylation may be of particular importance for elucidating the biologic events in carcinogenesis and provide potential approaches of selectively blocking the downstream signal cascade that allows carcinogenesis. Here, we mainly focus on the prenylation process of the clinically important CAAX box proteins, and their potential as a biomarker or preventive/therapeutic target in carcinogenesis.
CAAX 蛋白广泛参与细胞的多种功能，如增殖、分化和癌变。作为生物活性的重要调节剂，通过蛋白质的 CAAX 修饰进行信号转导是大多数 CAAX 蛋白功能的关键步骤，特别是对于将这些 CAAX 蛋白锚定到细胞的膜系统。通过更好地理解这一过程中信号转导和细胞内信息传递的分子机制，CAAX 蛋白的 CAAX 修饰可能对阐明癌变中的生物学事件具有特别重要的意义，并为选择性阻断允许癌变的下游信号级联提供潜在的方法。在这里，我们主要关注临床上重要的 CAAX 框蛋白的 CAAX 修饰过程，以及它们作为癌变中的生物标志物或预防/治疗靶点的潜力。
