Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) in tumor progression, drug resistance and targeted therapies

Abstract

The biological role of a protein seldom coincides with the function first described, i.e. the easiest to observe (the two aspects usually coexist). First observations usually settle down and address subsequent research during years to follow. However, it often happens, that from an out of frame data, indications later emerge that something else (possibly more interesting) may hide beneath the surface. An analysis free from preconceptions may therefore allow other aspects such as unexpected processes and novel functions of the protein under investigation, to emerge. This is well illustrated in the case of gammaglutamyltransferase (GGT), whose pathophysiological significance we could specify and redefine in experimental studies carried out in our laboratories, first in Siena and then in Pisa.