Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China.
Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2011 Jan 1;16(4):1536-50. doi: 10.2741/3803.
Metastasis is the major cause of death in patients with cancer. Metastatic cancer cells undergo dramatic molecular and cellular changes by remodeling their cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion and their actin cytoskeleton, molecular processes that involve the activity of various signaling networks. The FERM family proteins can link transmembrane proteins to the cytoskeleton or link kinase and/or phosphatase enzymatic activity to the plasma membrane. They thus are involved not only in cell-extracellular matrix interactions and cell-cell communication but also in apoptosis, carcinogenesis and metastasis. This review will summarize the role and mechanism of FERM proteins, with particular reference to the ERM and Ehm2 proteins in cancer metastasis.
转移是癌症患者死亡的主要原因。转移性癌细胞通过重塑细胞-细胞和细胞-基质黏附以及肌动蛋白细胞骨架，发生剧烈的分子和细胞变化，这些分子过程涉及各种信号网络的活性。FERM 家族蛋白可以将跨膜蛋白与细胞骨架连接，或连接激酶和/或磷酸酶的酶活性与质膜连接。因此，它们不仅参与细胞-细胞外基质相互作用和细胞间通讯，还参与细胞凋亡、癌变和转移。本综述将总结 FERM 蛋白的作用和机制，特别参考 ERM 和 Ehm2 蛋白在癌症转移中的作用。
