在生物体中,细胞间的信息传递是细胞生长、分化、发育、增殖、凋亡等生命活动的基本保证,而蛋白分泌是细胞间信息传递的重要方式。大多数分泌蛋白都是通过内质网-高尔基体(ER-Golgi)途径分泌的。然而越来越多的研究表明,存在着一类无信号肽的分泌蛋白,这类蛋白不依赖ER-Golgi途径就能分泌到细胞外发挥功能,被称为非经典分泌蛋白。非经典蛋白的分泌有其特有的机制,它对ER—Golgi分泌途径是一种必要和有益的补充。非经典分泌与细胞增殖、免疫反应、肿瘤形成、传染病病理学等密切相关。文章旨在对非经典分泌蛋白的特点、分泌机制及生物学意义进行概述。
Intercellular communication is fundamental in many biological processes involved in cell growth, differentia- tion, development, and reproduction of living organisms, and secretory proteins are among the most important messengers in this network of information. The vast majority of extracellular proteins are exported from cells by the endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi-dependent secretory pathway. However, increasing evidence shows that there are a group of secretory pro- teins without signal peptides, defined as nonclassical secretory proteins, which are exported via an ER/Golgi-independent pathway to perform extracellular functions. This pathway has been termed nonclassical or unconventional secretion, which is an essential and beneficial supplement to the ER-Golgi secretion pathway. The nonclassical secretion pathway has close relation with cell multiplication, immune response, tumor formation, infection pathology and so on. Here, the characters, the possible secretory mechanism, and the biological significance of nonclassical secretory proteins were reviewed.