The role of EF-hand Са<sup>2+</sup>/Mg<sup>2+</sup>-binding tescalcin protein in cell proliferation and differentiation
EF-hand Са2+/Мд2+-binding proteins are involved in many important processes in the body. Identification and analysis of the EF-hand motifs in the genome led to the discovery of novel Ca2+-binding proteins, which are potentially useful for biomedical applications. One of such molecules is tescalcin - 24 kDa protein with one EF-hand motif. Tescalcin plays an important role in differentiation of hematopoietic cells by regulating the expression of Ets family transcription factors via PMA-induced ERK-pathway. At the molecular level, it was shown to interact with subunit 4 of signalosome COP9 and Na+/H+-exchanger. Recently a potential use of tescalcin for cancer diagnostics was demonstrated