据《新科学家》网站近日报道，瞎鼹鼠可能看不见，但是它们却给征服癌症指明了方向。鼹鼠从不得癌症，这使得它们比大多数啮齿类动物多存活7倍的时间。现在，研究人员正慢慢了解其中的原因。
用犹大山地盲鼹鼠和戈兰高地盲鼹鼠身上的细胞进行的实验表明，这些动物有一种独特的杀死过快增殖细胞的能力。纽约罗切斯特大学的维拉·高布诺瓦带领的一个研究小组使用生长液培养出类似皮肤细胞的鼹鼠纤维母细胞，并发现，一旦这种细胞增殖到一定程度，鼹鼠就会分泌一种自杀性物质——β干扰素，使这些细胞迅速死亡。
此前，这个研究小组证实了另一种鼹鼠（裸鼹鼠）对抗癌症的方法是在细胞紧密聚集时（肿瘤即是这种情况），限制细胞分裂。
研究人员希望，通过让盲鼹鼠接触致癌化学物质来找出鼹鼠对抗癌症的方法。小组成员安德烈·赛罗安诺夫说，这可能会开启人类抗癌研究的新路径，找到触发细胞自杀的药物，并将其运用到癌症细胞上。
Cancer resistance in the blind mole rat is mediated by concerted necrotic cell death mechanism
Vera Gorbunova, Christopher Hine, Xiao Tian, Julia Ablaeva, Andrei V. Gudkov, Eviatar Nevo, and Andrei Seluanov
Blind mole rats Spalax (BMR) are small subterranean rodents common in the Middle East. BMR is distinguished by its adaptations to life underground, remarkable longevity (with a maximum documented lifespan of 21 y), and resistance to cancer. Spontaneous tumors have never been observed in spalacids. To understand the mechanisms responsible for this resistance, we examined the growth of BMR fibroblasts in vitro of the species Spalax judaei and Spalax golani. BMR cells proliferated actively for 7–20 population doublings, after which the cells began secreting IFN-β, and the cultures underwent massive necrotic cell death within 3 d. The necrotic cell death phenomenon was independent of culture conditions or telomere shortening. Interestingly, this cell behavior was distinct from that observed in another long-lived and cancer-resistant African mole rat, Heterocephalus glaber, the naked mole rat in which cells display hypersensitivity to contact inhibition. Sequestration of p53 and Rb proteins using SV40 large T antigen completely rescued necrotic cell death. Our results suggest that cancer resistance of BMR is conferred by massive necrotic response to overproliferation mediated by p53 and Rb pathways, and triggered by the release of IFN-β. Thus, we have identified a unique mechanism that contributes to cancer resistance of this subterranean mammal extremely adapted to life underground.
文献链接：https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/10/31/1217211109.short
