干擾素是一種免疫反應(yīng)蛋白,，身體利用這種蛋白對抗病毒和細菌感染。在一項新研究中,，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)某些乳腺癌細胞能夠關(guān)閉負責導致干擾素產(chǎn)生的基因,。因為這一發(fā)現(xiàn)，于2012年7月22日在線發(fā)表在Nature Medicine期刊上的一篇論文中,，他們寫道,，癌細胞能夠在不遭受免疫系統(tǒng)攻擊的情況下轉(zhuǎn)移到身體其他部分，特別是骨組織中。
在這項新研究中,，為了更好地了解當癌癥從乳腺轉(zhuǎn)移到身體其他部分時會發(fā)生什么,，研究人員從乳腺癌病人和小鼠解剖標本中收集組織樣品。在研究這些樣品過程中,，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)癌細胞能夠關(guān)閉癌癥轉(zhuǎn)移到身體其他部分的人和小鼠中的基因IRF7,。當檢測到感染存在時，IRF7負責促進干擾素產(chǎn)生,。抑制干擾素產(chǎn)生而阻止免疫反應(yīng),，從而使得癌細胞輕易地轉(zhuǎn)移到骨髓中。因此,，癌細胞能夠偽裝它們的存在并躲避它們的攻擊者,。
為了抵消這種效果，研究人員嘗試了兩種方法,。在第一種方法中,，他們試著以癌細胞不能關(guān)閉干擾素產(chǎn)生的方式將干擾素基因?qū)爰毎麅?nèi)。第二種方法涉及將干擾素注射到實驗小鼠體內(nèi),。他們報道這兩種方法都能有效地阻止癌細胞轉(zhuǎn)移,。不過，他們也說,，在病人能夠接受這些治療之前,，還需開展更多測試。(生物谷：Bioon.com)
本文編譯自Study finds breast cancer cells able to turn off interferon production to avoid immune response
doi: 10.1038/nm.2830
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PMID:
Silencing of Irf7 pathways in breast cancer cells promotes bone metastasis through immune escape
Bradley N Bidwell, Clare Y Slaney, Nimali P Withana et al.
Breast cancer metastasis is a key determinant of long-term patient survival. By comparing the transcriptomes of primary and metastatic tumor cells in a mouse model of spontaneous bone metastasis, we found that a substantial number of genes suppressed in bone metastases are targets of the interferon regulatory factor Irf7. Restoration of Irf7 in tumor cells or administration of interferon led to reduced bone metastases and prolonged survival time. In mice deficient in the interferon (IFN) receptor or in natural killer (NK) and CD8+ T cell responses, metastasis was accelerated, indicating that Irf7-driven suppression of metastasis was reliant on IFN signaling to host immune cells. We confirmed the clinical relevance of these findings in over 800 patients in which high expression of Irf7-regulated genes in primary tumors was associated with prolonged bone metastasis–free survival. This gene signature may identify patients that could benefit from IFN-based therapies. Thus, we have identified an innate immune pathway intrinsic to breast cancer cells, the suppression of which restricts immunosurveillance to enable metastasis.
