氧化甾醇结合蛋白相关蛋白家族的研究进展

膜脂是细胞膜的主要组分, 也是参与信号转导的重要信号分子。不同脂质分子在细胞膜上的不均等分布需要特殊类型的通道蛋白和运输蛋白来实现。氧化甾醇结合蛋白相关蛋白(ORPs)是一类非常保守的蛋白分子, 能够对磷脂酰肌醇和固醇等脂类分子进行识别并转运, 参与细胞中的许多生理过程, 包括信号转导、囊泡运输、脂类代谢和非囊泡运输等, 对于个体的生长发育具有重要作用。近几年, 关于ORPs在哺乳动物和酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)中结构和功能的研究取得了一系列重要进展, 但在植物中相关研究尚少。该文综述了ORPs及其相关蛋白在哺乳动物、酵母和植物中的研究进展, 探讨了植物ORPs的结构及其与哺乳动物和酵母同源蛋白之间的进化关系, 并对植物ORPs未来的研究方向进行了展望。

Research Advances in Oxysterol-binding Protein-related Proteins

Membrane lipids not only are important components of cell membranes, but also participate in signal transduction as signal molecules. The uneven distribution of lipid molecules in membranes requires specific types of transport channels and transporters for each lipid type. Oxysterol-binding protein (OSBP)-related proteins (ORPs) are a highly conserved family of lipid transport proteins that recognize and transport phosphoinositides and sterols, which are involved in many physiological processes including signal transduction, vesicle transport, lipid metabolism and non-vesicle transport, and hence play a very important role in the growth and development of individual organism. In recent years, a series of important findings have been made on the structure and function of ORPs in mammals and yeasts, but the advances in plants are relatively slow. In this paper, we review the progress of ORPs research in mammals, yeasts and plants, analyze the structural domains of ORPs in plants and the phylogenetical relationship to their homologs in mammals and yeasts, and also provide perspectives on the directions of plant ORPs research in the future.