Moonlighting
proteins exhibit multiple activities in different cellular compartments, and their abnormal regulation could play an important role in many diseases. To date, many
proteins have been identified with moonlighting activity, and more such
proteins are being gradually identified. Among the
proteins that possess moonlighting activity, several secreted
proteins exhibit multiple activities in different cellular locations, such as the extracellular matrix, nucleus, and cytoplasm. While acute
inflammation starts rapidly and generally disappears in a few days, chronic
inflammation can last for months or years. This is generally because of the failure to eliminate the cause of
inflammation, along with repeated exposure to the inflammatory agent. Chronic
inflammation is now considered as an overwhelming burden to the general wellbeing of patients and noted as an underlying cause of several diseases. Moonlighting
proteins can contribute to the process of chronic
inflammation; therefore, it is imperative to overview some
proteins that exhibit multiple functions in inflammatory diseases. In this review, we will focus on
inflammation, particularly unravelling several well-known secreted
proteins with multiple functions in different cellular locations.