Roles and potential clinical Applications of intermediate filament Proteins in brain tumors

Intermediate filament (IF) proteins are cytoplasmic and nuclear cytoskeletal proteins. Of the ~70 IF proteins, nearly 12 are found in the nervous system, where their expression is largely cell type specific. Astrocytes express GFAP while different neuron types contain either neurofilament proteins or α-internexin or peripherin. These proteins are often downregulated in brain cancer. In addition, brain cancer cells may also contain vimentin, nestin and synemin, which are the IF proteins found in neural progenitor cells.

Source: Seminars in Pediatric Neurology - December 11, 2014 Category: Neurology Authors: Quincy Quick, Madhumita Paul, Omar Skalli Source Type: research