Ki-67

Ki-67 is a DNA binding protein widely present in various proliferating cells. It is absent in the G0 phase, but begins to be expressed in the G1 phase, reaches its peak in the M phase, and sharply decreases in the late phases. Some scholars speculated that Ki-67 can maintain chromosomes separated in the early stage its huge molecular weight and electric potential difference, while down-regulate in the later stage to aggregate chromosomes. Meanwhile, Ki-67 can participate in the occurrence and development of tumors, but the specific mechanism is still unclear, which may be related to the formation of heterochromatin or the maintenance of cancer cell transcription programs. In clinical practice, Ki-67 is the most widely used cell proliferation biomarker at present, and the diffusion index based on Ki-67 staining has also become a necessary prognostic evaluation indicator for lung cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, glioma, neuroendocrine neoplasm, etc. In addition, inhibiting Ki-67 expression is considered as a promising tumor treatment method, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, RNA interference, and promoter controlled cancer gene therapy.