[Progress in the study on alternative splicing and functions of kininogen genes]

The kininogen gene and its coded proteins are slightly different in various species. In human beings, bovine and mouse, for example, there is an alternatively spliced kininogen gene K, encoding two kinds of proteins. By contrast, there is still another constituted spliced kininogen gene T which encodes only one kind of protein in the rat. The kininogen, belonging to the family 3 of cystatin superfamily, is a kind of multifunctional proteins with multiple domains, which maintains the normal physiological condition in human and some other organisms. The antagonism of hemoglutination and antihemoglutination of kininogen can not only recuperate the damaged blood vessels to prevent them from bleeding ceaselessly, but also restrain the formation of thrombus. In this review, we briefly discussed alternative splicing of kininogen gene and the multifunction of kininogen protein, as well as primarily hemoglutination and antihemoglutination, in human beings, bovine, mouse and rat which have been currently studied in detail. Our aims are to provide the beneficial references for further understanding the mechanism of evolution and alternative splicing of kininogen gene, and elucidating the multifunction roles of kininogen protein. Besides, it would be helpful for developing new medicines to regulate the vascular permeability and blood pressure and to restrain tumor.