Abstract
The lipocalin proteins (lipocalins) are a large family of small proteins characterized by low sequence similarity and highly conserved crystal structures. Lipocalins have been found to play important roles in many human diseases. For this reason, a systemic analysis of the molecular properties of human lipocalins is essential. In this study, human lipocalins were found to contain four structurally conserved regions (SCRs) and could be divided into two subgroups. A human lipocalin protein-protein interaction network (PPIN) was constructed and integrated with their expression data in esophageal carcinoma. Many lipocalins showed obvious co-expression patterns in esophageal carcinoma. Their subcellular distributions also suggested these lipocalins may transfer signals from the extracellular space to the nucleus using the pathway-like paths. These analyses also expanded our knowledge about this human ancient protein family in the background of esophageal carcinoma.
Highlights
Lipocalin (TLC), binds to macromolecules, which regulate tear viscosity, the binding and release of lipids, and endonuclease inactivation of viral DNA11
Results indicated that the lipocalins could be divided into two groups based on their protein sequence similarities
Several pairs of significant correlations were found in the heatmap (Table 2). These results suggested that some lipocalins are co-expressed in esophageal carcinoma and they might co-operate for certain biological functions
Summary
Lipocalin (TLC), binds to macromolecules, which regulate tear viscosity, the binding and release of lipids, and endonuclease inactivation of viral DNA11. LCN2 (lipocalin-2), known as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), is overexpressed under many other pathologic conditions, including cancer. It is frequently associated with tumor size, stage, and invasiveness. LCN2 stabilizes the proteolytic enzyme matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) by forming a heterogeneous complex, thereby preventing autodegradation and promoting metastasis of cancer cells[16]. Another lipocalin associated with carcinoma is glycodelin, called PAEP (progestagen-associated endometrial protein). Their protein-protein interaction network (PPIN) was constructed, and their expression levels in esophageal carcinoma, including esophageal adnocarcinoma (EAC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were integrated into the PPIN
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