Rosen H R
Ludwig Boltzmann Research Institute for Surgical Oncology, Donauspital/SMZ-Ost, Vienna, Austria.
Neoplasma. 1996;43(6):357-62.
Ferritin, physiologically an iron-storage protein, has been repeatedly investigated with regard to its role in the development of inflammation and malignancy [2, 3, 6]. The structural heterogeneity of this protein has aroused considerable interest in recent years [2, 3, 5, 6]. Although ferritin is generally regarded as an iron-storage protein, small amounts are also found in the sera of normal individuals, while abnormally high concentrations are found in the serum of patients with malignancies as well as in pregnant women. In the past, considerable attention has also been paid to the structural heterogeneity of ferritin derived from various organs and malignant tissues [3, 5]. It has been reported that the placenta, fetal tissues and malignant tissues contain acidic ferritin, while the liver and the spleen contain ferritin in the basic form. The acidic isoform has been summarized under the term oncofetal ferritin, since these forms share certain physical-chemical characteristics. These so-called oncofetal or placental ferritins (PLF) have repeatedly been shown to have an inhibitory effect on hematopoiesis and T-cell function [2, 6, 7, 10]. The purpose of the present review is to elucidate current data concerning the role of placental isoferritin in pregnancy as well as in the development of breast cancer.
铁蛋白在生理上是一种铁储存蛋白，关于其在炎症和恶性肿瘤发展中的作用已进行了反复研究[2,3,6]。近年来，这种蛋白质的结构异质性引起了相当大的关注[2,3,5,6]。虽然铁蛋白通常被视为一种铁储存蛋白，但在正常个体的血清中也发现有少量存在，而在恶性肿瘤患者以及孕妇的血清中则发现浓度异常升高。过去，人们也相当关注来自各种器官和恶性组织的铁蛋白的结构异质性[3,5]。据报道，胎盘、胎儿组织和恶性组织含有酸性铁蛋白，而肝脏和脾脏则含有碱性形式的铁蛋白。酸性同工型被归纳为癌胚铁蛋白这一术语，因为这些形式具有某些物理化学特征。这些所谓的癌胚或胎盘铁蛋白（PLF）已多次被证明对造血和T细胞功能有抑制作用[2,6,7,10]。本综述的目的是阐明有关胎盘同工铁蛋白在妊娠以及乳腺癌发展中的作用的当前数据。
