Villin

Villin is a calcium dependent actin binding protein that mainly exists in the brush edges of epithelial cells in the digestive and urinary systems. It can participate in cell migration and material transport by regulating the dynamic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. As a specific biomarker for adenocarcinoma of gastrointestinal tract, Villin is often used in combination with CK7, CK20, CDX2, and other antibodies to diagnose primary and metastatic colorectal cancer. For example, it can be used to distinguish between intestinal metastatic ovarian cancer (+) and primary ovarian cancer (-). Moreover, some research found that Villin is highly expressed in moderately and highly differentiated gastric cancer but lowly expressed in poorly differentiated cancer, suggesting its potential prognostic value. Meanwhile, Villin is expressed in precancerous lesions such as gastric mucosal intestinal metaplasia and intraductal papillary mucinous tumors of pancreas, which provides important reference significance for early diagnosis of malignant diseases. In addition, some scholars pointed out that Villin can appear in hepatocellular carcinoma and may be involved in the occurrence and development of tumors.