title: Clusterin.
abstract: Clusterin is an enigmatic glycoprotein with a nearly ubiquitous tissue distribution and an apparent involvement in biological processes ranging from mammary gland involution to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Its major form, a 75-80 kDa heterodimer, is secreted and present in physiological fluids, but truncated forms targeted to the nucleus have also been identified. Upregulation of clusterin mRNA and protein levels detected in diverse disease states and in in vitro systems have led to suggestions that it functions in membrane lipid recycling, in apoptotic cell death, and as a stress-induced secreted chaperone protein, amongst others. Recent studies of knockout mice have further complicated the picture by implicating clusterin in exacerbating neuronal death in hypoxia-ischemia. The question of whether clusterin is a multifunctional protein, or deploys a single primary function influenced by cellular context, remains a central issue continuing to stimulate interest in this unusual molecule.
authors.affiliation: Retinitis Pigmentosa Research Unit, Division of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, GKT School of Biomedical Sciences, The Rayne Institute, St Thomas' Hospital, Londoon SE1 7EH, UK. sejones@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Steve E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jomary
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051152:Clusterin; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: C495242:CLU protein, human; D051152:Clusterin; D006023:Glycoproteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins