THE MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF GROWTH SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION PROTEINS

Cellular proteins involved in growth signal transduction pathways repr esent potential molecular epidemiologic biomarkers for various disease processes of toxicologic interest, particularly cancer. In many insta nces, the proteins gain access to the extracellular environment and th us can be detected in easily accessible biological fluids such as seru m or plasma. This paper reviews the experience with selected examples of such proteins, including growth factors, growth factor receptors, G proteins, and nuclear DNA-binding proteins, as serum or plasma biomar kers of disease.