LIM激酶（LIM kinase, LIMK）家族主要有两个成员：LIMK1和LIMK2，它们在癌症的侵袭和迁移过程中起着重要的作用。其通过调节cofilin家族蛋白的活性而影响肌动蛋白细胞骨架结构，对细胞形态、运动、黏附以及迁移都至关重要。LIMK对cofilin蛋白磷酸化与去磷酸化间的平衡进行微调节可能是影响肿瘤细胞迁移侵袭能力的决定性因素。LIMK受多条上游信号通路调控，主要上游信号分子是RhoGTP酶和Slingshot磷酸酶，形成Rho-ROCK/PAK-LIMK-Cofilin和SSH- LIMK-Cofilin信号通路。LIMK分布广泛并对多种组织的正常发育必不可少，在多种肿瘤组织中高表达并参与肿瘤生长、血管形成以及迁移侵袭过程。本文综述了LIMK的结构、功能、组织表达，参与肿瘤细胞迁移侵袭的机制以及信号通路的调控。

There are two major members in LIM kinase(LIMK) family, LIMK1 and LIMK2，which play a critical role in the process of invasion and metastasis of carcinoma. They exert the effects on the architecture of the actin cytoskeleton through regulating the activity of cofilin family proteins, which is crucial for cell morphogenesis, motility, adhesion and migration. Finetuning the balance between phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated  status of cofilin may be the determinant factor for tumor cell metastatic potential. LIMK can be regulated by several upstream signaling pathways, among which Rho GTPases and Slingshot phosphatase play a major role. Therefore, pathways consist of Rho-ROCK/PAK-LIMK-Cofilin and SSH-LIMK-Cofilin have been supposed to involve in the process of migration and invasion of tumor cells. LIMK distributes in a variety of tissues, and it is essential for tissues. With overexpression in various tumor tissues, LIMK is involved in tumor growth, angiogenesis and induces migration and invasion of tumor cells. In this review, we outlined the structure, function, expression in various tissues and disussed the mechanism of LIMK-induced cell invasiveness and migration. The regulatory pathways was also included.

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