朊蛋白生理功能研究进展

朊蛋白作为一种高度保守的细胞膜糖蛋白,广泛分布于机体各组织器官,参与信号跨膜传导、细胞黏附、铜离子代谢、抗细胞凋亡、抗氧化应激等过程。近年来,随着对朊蛋白结构、生理功能、变构机制等的深入研究,对它的认识已不再局限于一种单纯的致病因子,朊蛋白在遗传进化、生理功能上所表现出的重要作用已成为新的研究热点。我们首先分析了朊蛋白的细胞定位、转运及组织分布,其次对朊蛋白在神经系统、肿瘤发生、胚胎发育过程中发挥的生理功能做简要介绍,最后对该蛋白的研究前景进行了展望。

Research Progress of Physiologic Function of Prion Protein

Prion is a highly conserved plasma membraneanchored extracellular glycoprotein. It is widely distrib uted in the central nervous system and several peripheral tissues. The special organization and cellular localization of cellular isoform of prion protein（PrPc） would be consistent with a number of different functions, including sig nal transduction, cell adhesion, copper homeostasis, antiapoptosis, antioxidant activity. Recently, prion is not just considered a pathogenic factor by studying the structure, physiological function and conversion mechanism of PrPc. New research has focused on the genetic evolution and physiological function of PrPc. The cellular localization, transport and tissue distribution of PrPc were reviewed in this paper. The physiologic function of PrPc in nervous system, tumorigenesis and embryonic development were then proposed. Additionally, we focused on the prospective outline on the study of this protein.