Nuclear structural proteins as biomarkers of cancer

The regulation of cell processes is integrally connected to cellular and extracellular structure. Studies over the past three decades have demonstrated the complex interactions of cell structure and function. The relationship of cellular structure and function has perhaps been most studied in the transformed cell. The hallmark of transformation is alterations in the shape of the cell and the nucleus. Many of the cellular alterations observed in the cancer process are structural, including changes in extracellular matrix-cytoskeletal interactions, cytoskeletal elements, as well as nuclear structure. This review focuses on the structural components of the nucleus, the nuclear matrix, and their role in the cancer process and the use of these structural components of the nucleus, the nuclear matrix, and their role in the cancer process and the use of these structural components as cancer specific biomarkers. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.