Stathmin:a potential tumor biomarker

Stathmin,a ubiquitously expressed cytosolic protein(Mr=19×103),is also called oncogene protein 18(Op18).Stathmin is involved in the assembly of microtubule(MT) and spindle by binding the tubulin protein.It plays a key role in cell proliferation,differentiation,regeneration,and migration and has regulatory effects on the signal transduction.Recently,it is reported that stathmin is overexpressed in a variety of human malignancies.It induces tumor cell migration and invasion by regulating MT depolymeri-zation.Its post-translational modification influences the interaction with p53 protein and is involved in the initiation and progression of malignant tumor.Stathmin alone or in combination with chemotherapeutics has been used for tumor therapy.The internal association of stathmin with cancer etiology is still unknown.So,further studies are needed to determine the role of stathmin as potential tumor biomarker and a drug target in tumor therapy.