S100A6: Playing Roles in Cancer, Apoptosis & Transcription Regulation

S100A6 antibodies detect a small calcium binding protein with 2 EF-hand structures and belongs to the S100 family. Calcium binding induces a conformational change of the protein which in turn permits its interaction with several target proteins. It is predominantly expressed in fibroblasts and epithelial cells and has been implicated in several cellular processes such as cell cycle progression, cytoskeleton rearrangement and exocytosis. It is a predominantly cytoplasmic protein however in the presence of calcium ions it might also associate with cell membranes.  Its vast array of biological processes may be due to the fact that it has the ability to bind a number of proteins and modulate their function by inducing conformation changes and/or interfering with post-translational modifications.

The upregulation of S100A6 has been reported in a number of tumors and linked to metastasis.  Recent studies have demonstrated a strong link between high nuclear expression of S100A6 and poor survival in pancreatic cancer patients.  It was concluded that up-regulation of S100A6 is an early event in pancreatic cancer development and that elevated levels of nuclear S100A6 influence the clinical outcome.

S100A6 has also been linked to apoptosis.  It has been shown to enhance the cell death rate of cells under apoptotic conditions when upregulated.  This is believed to be due to the interaction between S100A6 and Caspase 3 during which S100A6 is thought to modulate the transcriptional regulation of caspase 3 by increasing its promoter activity.

P53 appears to be another protein which S100A6 interacts with.  The presence of S100A6 results in higher p53 transcriptional activity which resulted in a higher cell susceptibility to apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide.  The binding of S100A6 to p53 did not however affect the ability of p53 to bind to DNA.

As S100A6 is further studies, more protein binding partners are bound to be discovered.  This may shed more light on the diverse roles that S100A6 plays in a vast array of cellular processes. Novus offers top quality S100A6 antibodies as well as many other related reagents. Please contact our technical support department (technical@novusbio.com) for any additional details.