[Progress in the study of CCN family].

The last 5-6 years have seen the emergence of a new gene family that currently comprises CTGF, Cyr61, nov, elm1, HICP and WISP-3. The translational products of most CCN family members are secreted proteins that contain 343 to 381 amino-acid residues to compose 4 distinct structural modules, each having 38 conserved cysteine residues. These proteins have a variety of properties to affect the cellular behaviors such as growth, differentiation, adhesion and locomotion. They may play important roles in pregnancy, development and differentiation, angiogenesis, wound repair, fibrotic disorders, inflammation and tumor genesis.