Rab proteins in fish and crustaceans: an overview

The Rab family of proteins is involved in organelle regulation, trafficking, signal transduction, mitosis, phagocytosis, growth differentiation, cytoskeleton protein depolymerization and other cellular functions and abnormal expression has been associated with many pathologies, including cancer. Previous work has focused on Rab function in higher animals but fish, crustaceans and other aquatic animals also express the Rab proteins. The current review summarizes research progress on Rab proteins, focusing on immune defense against pathogens in aquatic animals. Some differences in Rab protein function between aquatic and higher animals were found and greater involvement in the fish and crustacean immune system than that of higher animals. Novel insights into Rab protein in aquatic animals are offered with implications for the development of aquaculture strategies.