Not long after the discovery of
lamin proteins, it became clear that not all
lamin subtypes are ubiquitously expressed in cells and tissues. Especially, A-type
lamins showed an inverse correlation with proliferation and were thus initially called
statins. Here we compare the findings of both A- and B-type
lamin expression in various normal tissues and their neoplastic counterparts. Based on immunocytochemistry it becomes clear that
lamin expression patterns are much more complicated than initially assumed: while normally proliferative cells are devoid of A-type
lamin expression, many neoplastic tissues do show prominent A-type
lamin expression. Conversely, cells that do not proliferate can be devoid of
lamin expression. Yet, within the different types of tissues and
tumors,
lamins can be used to distinguish between
tumor subtypes. The link between the appearance of A-type
lamins in differentiation and the appearance of A-type
lamins in a
tumor likely relates the proliferative capacity of the
tumor to its differentiation state.While
lamins are targets for degradation in the apoptotic process, and accordingly are often used as markers for apoptosis, intriguing studies on an active role of
lamins in the initiation or the prevention of apoptosis have been published recently and give rise to a renewed interest in the role of
lamins in
cancer.