title: A systematic analysis of human lipocalin family and its expression in esophageal carcinoma.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Ze-Peng
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Bing-Li
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Xuan-Hao
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yang
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Fen
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology Surgery, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Peng
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology Surgery, Shantou Central Hospital, Affiliated Shantou Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Yong
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncologic Pathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: Li-Yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150000, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, China.
authors.forename: En-Min
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D054834:Lipocalins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D060066:Protein Interaction Maps; D021381:Protein Transport; D016160:Retinoblastoma Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D054834:Lipocalins; D016160:Retinoblastoma Protein