Masonic Cancer Center and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Cells. 2021 Jun 26;10(7):1604. doi: 10.3390/cells10071604.
UNC-45A (Protein unc-45 homolog A) is a cytoskeletal-associated protein with a dual and non-mutually exclusive role as a regulator of the actomyosin system and a Microtubule (MT)-destabilizing protein, which is overexpressed in human cancers including in ovarian cancer patients resistant to the MT-stabilizing drug paclitaxel. Mapping of UNC-45A in the mouse upper genital tract and central nervous system reveals its enrichment not only in highly proliferating and prone to remodeling cells, but also in microtubule-rich areas, of the ovaries and the nervous system, respectively. In both apparatuses, UNC-45A is also abundantly expressed in the ciliated epithelium. As regulators of actomyosin contractility and MT stability are essential for the physiopathology of the female reproductive tract and of neuronal development, our findings suggest that UNC-45A may have a role in ovarian cancer initiation and development as well as in neurodegeneration.
UNC-45A（蛋白 unc-45 同源物 A）是一种细胞骨架相关蛋白，具有作为肌动球蛋白系统调节剂和微管（MT）解稳定蛋白的双重且非互斥的作用，在包括对 MT 稳定药物紫杉醇耐药的卵巢癌患者在内的人类癌症中过表达。UNC-45A 在小鼠上生殖道和中枢神经系统中的定位显示，它不仅在高度增殖和易于重塑的细胞中富集，而且在卵巢和神经系统中分别富含微管的区域中也大量表达。在这两个器官中，UNC-45A 在纤毛上皮中也大量表达。由于肌动球蛋白收缩和 MT 稳定性的调节剂对于女性生殖道的病理生理学和神经元发育至关重要，我们的发现表明 UNC-45A 可能在卵巢癌的发生和发展以及神经退行性变中发挥作用。
