VIL1 is a gastrointestinal-related cytoskeletal protein that is associated with the microfilament bundles of brush border microvilli. A major structural component of the brush border cytoskeleton, VIL1 binds actin in a calcium-dependent manner. Under normal physiological conditions, villin1 is expressed in epithelial cells of the intestinal mucosa, gall bladder, renal proximal tubules and ductuli efferentes of the testis. Wang et al. report VIL1 to be an epithelial cell-specific anti-apoptotic protein, and to have an important function in regulating actin dynamics, cell morphology, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions, cell migration and cell survival. Furthermore, the overexpression of villin has been reported in many diseases, such as gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors and colon cancer; and in lung cancers, villin1 is reported to be a useful marker to distinguish large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas from squamous cell carcinomas from the sera of patients with lung cancer.
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