导读：癌症的一大特征就是癌细胞生长失控。英国研究人员说，他们在动物实验中发现了一个控制细胞生长的基因，有望用作抑制癌细胞生长的“刹车”，帮助开发治疗癌症的新方法。
英发现一个或可用作癌症“刹车”的基因
癌症的一大特征就是癌细胞生长失控。英国研究人员说，他们在动物实验中发现了一个控制细胞生长的基因，有望用作抑制癌细胞生长的“刹车”，帮助开发治疗癌症的新方法。
英国诺丁汉大学等机构的研究人员在新一期在线学术刊物《科学公共图书馆遗传卷》上报告说，他们在对一种涡虫进行研究时发现了这个名为ＳＭＧ－１的基因。这种涡虫有一项神奇的本领，其身体各个部位都能再生，甚至头部被切除都能再长出来。这得益于它的细胞有极强的生长能力。
研究人员发现，即便这样的生长能力还是要受到基因ＳＭＧ－１的控制。如果用技术手段去除这个基因，涡虫的某些细胞会一直生长下去，即便已经超出身体所能承受的限度，最终导致涡虫死亡。这跟人类的肿瘤非常相似。
参与研究的阿齐兹•阿布贝克尔说，这个基因在细胞生长中扮演着类似刹车的角色，可避免细胞生长速度失控。
据介绍，以前在某些乳腺癌患者的体内也曾发现基因ＳＭＧ－１出现了变异。因此，如能进一步探明该基因在人体内是否发挥着类似作用，也许可通过模拟它起作用的机制来抑制肿瘤细胞生长，帮助开发治疗癌症的新方法。
A Novel Role for the SMG-1 Kinase in Lifespan and Oxidative Stress Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans
Ingrid Masse, Laurent Molin, Laurent Mouchiroud,Philippe Vanhems, Francesca Palladino, Marc Billaud,Florence Solari
The PTEN tumour suppressor encodes a phosphatase, and its daf-18 orthologue in Caenorhabditis elegans negatively regulates the insulin/IGF-1 DAF-2 receptor pathway that influences lifespan in worms and other species. In order to identify new DAF-18 regulated pathways involved in aging, we initiated a candidate RNAi feeding screen for clones that lengthen lifespan. Here, we report that smg-1 inactivation increases average lifespan in a daf-18 dependent manner. Genetic analysis is consistent with SMG-1 acting at least in part in parallel to the canonical DAF-2 receptor pathway, but converging on the transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO. SMG-1 is a serine-threonine kinase which plays a conserved role in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) in worms and mammals. In addition, human SMG-1 has also been implicated in the p53-mediated response to genotoxic stress. The effect of smg-1 inactivation on lifespan appears to be unrelated to its NMD function, but requires the p53 tumour suppressor orthologue cep-1. Furthermore, smg-1 inactivation confers a resistance to oxidative stress in a daf-18-, daf-16- and cep-1-dependent manner. We propose that the role of SMG-1 in lifespan regulation is at least partly dependent on its function in oxidative stress resistance. Taken together, our results unveil a novel role for SMG-1 in lifespan regulation.
文献链接：https://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003354
