Old proteins – new locations: myoglobin, haemoglobin, neuroglobin and cytoglobin in solid tumours and cancer cells

摘要

Aim: The unexpected identification of myoglobin (MB) in breast cancer prompted us to evaluate the clinico-pathological value of MB, haemoglobin (HB) and cytoglobin (CYGB) in human breast carcinoma cases. We further screened for the presence of neuroglobin (NGB) and CYGB in tumours of diverse origin, and assessed the O₂-response of HB, MB and CYGB mRNAs in cancer cell lines, to better elicit the links between this ectopic globin expression and tumour hypoxia.