Extracellular annexin II

Annexin II belongs to a family of calcium-dependent, phospholipid binding proteins, Annexin II was first identified as an intracellular protein and attributed intracellular functions, Although it lacks a signal peptide and its mechanism of secretion is unknown, extracellular annexin II has recently been found in several tissues as both soluble and membrane-bound protein, Cell-surface annexin II has been identified as a receptor for a number of polypeptide ligands, Extracellular annexin II may be important in several biological processes, such as fibrinolysis, cell adhesion, ligand-mediated cell signaling and virus infection, These processes provide several possibilities for therapeutic approaches targeting extracellular annexin II, and future research should further illuminate the biology of this molecule. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.