[Annexin-1: 2nd messanger of the anti-inflammatory actions of glucocorticoids].

Glucocorticoids have important immunosupressive properties, being used as anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents in a wide range of inflammatory and auto-immune pathologies. One of the best studied mechanisms by which glucocorticoids exert most of their anti-inflammatory actions involves the induction of the synthesis and the secretion of the mediator and effector protein annexin 1 (ANXA1). Here we review the molecular and cellular pathways involved on the glucocorticoid-induced synthesis and secretion of ANXA1 in a variety of cell types. Since its discovery as an anti-phospholipase A2 protein, ANXA1 has come a long way to encompass a wide range of cellular effects, the most relevant ones being those that directly modulate the inflammatory response. The results presented in this review open the way to further pharmacological studies which will allow the identification of the role of ANXA1 in inflamatory pathologies, namely rheumatoid arthritis.