The Emerging Role of Regucalcin as a Tumor Suppressor: Facts and Views

Regucalcin (RGN) is a multifunctional protein that was first described as a calcium (Ca2+)-binding protein playing a relevant role in the maintenance of intracellular Ca2+ concentration. However, due to its downregulated expression with aging, RGN is also known as senescence marker protein-30. The RGN protein is an X-chromosome gene product, whose transcription is regulated by a myriad of hormonal and non-hormonal factors. Besides the well-known role in Ca2+ homeostasis, RGN has also been linked to the control of several intracellular signaling pathways, and basic biological processes, such as oxidative stress, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metabolism. RGN has been shown to have antioxidant properties by its activity reducing the production of reactive oxygen species and increasing the antioxidant defenses. The role of RGN suppressing cell proliferation is associated with the regulation of expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. It results clear that all the existent knowledge implicates RGN in the control of the main biological processes actually recognized as the hallmarks of cancer. Moreover, it has been shown that tumor onset and progression are underpinned by the loss of RGN expression, whereas RGN overexpression showed to have a protective role against the development of chemicallyinduced tumors. This review describes the mechanisms that control the tissue expression of RGN and discusses the experimental evidence that indicate RGN as a new tumor suppressor protein.