中间丝vimentin对巨噬细胞功能的调控

Regulation of cytoskeleton intermediate filaments vimentin on macrophage

巨噬细胞是一类重要的先天免疫细胞,主要参与清除病原体、调节炎症反应,并能通过调控肿瘤微环境促进肿瘤发展和转移。巨噬细胞由单核细胞分化而来,其形态和功能在分化过程中会发生显著改变。值得注意的是,在单核-巨噬分化过程中,波形蛋白(vimentin)的表达丰度呈几十倍地急剧上升。Vimentin是一种细胞骨架中间丝蛋白,主要负责维持细胞形态和弹性。目前,有关巨噬细胞分化过程中vimentin表达升高的动态规律和分子机制以及vimentin对巨噬细胞生理病理功能的调控功能尚不清楚。因此,深入研究vimentin对巨噬细胞的调控将有助于拓展其作为细胞骨架蛋白的功能,同时完善巨噬细胞内在分子机制的功能发挥研究。本文介绍了不同形态vimentin的生物学功能以及巨噬细胞表达vimentin在肿瘤微环境中的调控作用。

Macrophages are one of the important type of phagocytic cells in innate immunity that participate in pathogen clearance,regulation of inflammatory responses,and promotion of tumor development and metastasis by modulating the tumor microenvironment.Macrophages differentiate from monocytes.During differentiation process,morphology and function of cells undergo significant changes.Notably,the expression of vimentin,an cytoskeletal intermediate filaments protein that is responsible for maintaining cell shape and elasticity,is found to increase drastically during macrophage differentiation.The dynamic process and molecular mechanisms underlying the upregulation of vimentin expression during macrophage differentiation,as well as the regulatory role of vimentin in the physiological and pathological functions of macrophages,remain elusive.Therefore,a deeper understanding of vimentin regulation in macrophages would help to expand its functions beyond that of a cytoskeletal protein and improve the intrinsic molecular mechanisms underlying macrophage function.This review introduces the biological functions of different forms of vimentin and the regulatory role of macrophage-expressed vimentin in the tumor microenvironment.