美國科學家在１４日出版的英國《自然遺傳學》雜志上發(fā)表文章說，他們在線蟲體內發(fā)現(xiàn)具有“防癌延壽”雙重功效的基因,。
據美國媒體報道,，美國加利福尼亞大學舊金山分校生物學家辛西婭·凱尼恩領導的研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn),，一種體型極小,、生命周期僅為３天的秀麗隱桿線蟲體內的ＤＡＦ－２基因發(fā)生變異后,，這些線蟲壽命比正常情況延長１倍,。
科學家對７３４個受到ＤＡＦ－２影響的基因進行篩選后發(fā)現(xiàn),，其中２９種基因能促進或抑制癌細胞的生長。這２９種基因中,，又有一半的基因同時對線蟲壽命發(fā)揮影響,。當ＤＡＦ－２變異后，促進癌細胞生長的基因就不能正常表達了,，只有抑制癌細胞的基因還在表達,，結果線蟲的壽命延長了。
凱尼恩說,，過去有一種普遍看法是,，能夠“延壽”的基因同時也促進癌細胞的生長，“但我們通過本次研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，一些能‘延壽’的基因其實也抑制癌細胞的生長,，而一些促進癌細胞生長的基因反而加速生命體的衰老”。
凱尼恩認為,，人體內也存在類似線蟲體內的“防癌延壽”基因,，他們的這項研究有利于幫助找到既能延長人類壽命、又使人類免患癌癥的方法,。（新華網）
原始出處：
Nature Genetics
Published online: 14 October 2007 | doi:10.1038/ng.2007.1
DAF-16/FOXO targets genes that regulate tumor growth in Caenorhabditis elegans
Julie Pinkston-Gosse1 & Cynthia Kenyon1
Cancer is an age-related disease, and inhibiting insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling extends lifespan and increases tumor resistance in C. elegans and mammals. To investigate how the insulin/IGF-1 pathway couples these two processes, we analyzed putative transcriptional targets of the C. elegans FOXO transcription factor DAF-16, which promotes both longevity and tumor resistance. Twenty-nine of 734 genes tested influenced germline-tumor cell proliferation or p53-dependent apoptosis. About half of these genes also affected normal aging, thereby linking these two processes mechanistically. Many of these 29 genes are orthologs of known human tumor suppressors or oncogenes, suggesting that others may be as well. Our findings implicate nuclear-pore modification in p53-dependent cell death, because inhibiting nuclear-pore genes that are upregulated by DAF-16 blocks p53-dependent cell death in the tumor, but not normal, p53-independent, germline cell death.
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA.
Correspondence to: Cynthia Kenyon1 e-mail: [email protected]
