Fascin-1 is an actin-bundling protein that shares no homology with other actin-bundling proteins.
It is greatly induced upon maturation of dendritic cells (DCs). However, fascin-1 is not expressed in other primary blood cells, including macrophages and neutrophils, indicating a unique role of fascin-1 in the function of DCs upon maturation.
An increasing body of evidence has shown that fascin-1 plays critical roles in maturation-associated DC functions, including dynamic assembly of veil-like membrane protrusions, disassembly of podosomes, migration to lymph nodes, and the assembly of the immunological synapse.
Pathological analyses of fascin-1 expression revealed that fascin-1 is a useful marker of diseases of immune cells, including Langerhans cell histiocytosis and Hodgkin diseases. Furthermore, attempts have been made to explore the use of a fascin-1 promoter for DNA vaccination because it is strong and specific to DCs.
2012-03-20
Eng.
Critical reviews in immunology
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Nelson Labs, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA. yamashiro [at] biology.rutgers.edu
Crit Rev Immunol. 2012 ;32(1):11-21
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