由于癌瘤發(fā)生的部位不同,，性質(zhì)各異，腫瘤內(nèi)部的分子活動(dòng)也難以探明,，癌癥的早期診斷一直是醫(yī)學(xué)難題,。日本研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，一種蛋白質(zhì)有可能充當(dāng)早期發(fā)現(xiàn)癌瘤的“信號(hào)”,。
日本九州大學(xué)醫(yī)院的高橋淳等研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，在人體不同部位產(chǎn)生的癌瘤細(xì)胞內(nèi)都含有一種名為“FEAT”的腫瘤蛋白質(zhì)，這種蛋白質(zhì)能加劇細(xì)胞的癌變,。對(duì)于健康人而言,，這種蛋白質(zhì)僅在睪丸、大腦,、肝組織中少量存在,，幾乎無法檢測(cè)出來，而在癌癥患者體內(nèi),，這種蛋白質(zhì)會(huì)異常增加,。
雖然此前研究人員曾在部分腫瘤中發(fā)現(xiàn)過這種蛋白質(zhì)，但是高橋淳等人在對(duì)170名肺癌,、大腸癌和前列腺癌等7類癌癥患者進(jìn)行檢查時(shí),，首次發(fā)現(xiàn)這種蛋白質(zhì)異常增加的普遍現(xiàn)象。他們隨后確認(rèn),，在10種以上的癌細(xì)胞中都含有這種蛋白質(zhì),。
為驗(yàn)證這一發(fā)現(xiàn),，研究人員培育出一種轉(zhuǎn)基因?qū)嶒?yàn)鼠，其胸腺,、脾臟,、肝和肺都能產(chǎn)生大量這種蛋白質(zhì)。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn),，在40只這樣的實(shí)驗(yàn)鼠中,，有19只隨后患上了惡性淋巴瘤，14只患上肝癌,。
研究人員在新創(chuàng)刊的英國(guó)學(xué)術(shù)刊物《科學(xué)報(bào)告》上發(fā)表文章說,，在健康機(jī)體內(nèi)，衰老無用的細(xì)胞會(huì)正常死亡,，但“FEAT”腫瘤蛋白質(zhì)能使它們免于死亡,，導(dǎo)致癌變。“FEAT”及類似的腫瘤蛋白質(zhì)可能成為檢測(cè)癌瘤的“信號(hào)”,，有利于早期發(fā)現(xiàn)和防治多種癌癥,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Scientific Reports DOI:10.1038/srep00015
A novel potent tumour promoter aberrantly overexpressed in most human cancers
Atsushi Takahashi; Hisashi Tokita; Kenzo Takahashi; Tomoharu Takeoka; Kosho Murayama; Daihachiro Tomotsune; Miki Ohira; Akihiro Iwamatsu; Kazuaki Ohara; Kazufumi Yazaki; Tadayuki Koda; Akira Nakagawara; Kenzaburo Tani
The complexity and heterogeneity of tumours have hindered efforts to identify commonalities among different cancers. Furthermore, because we have limited information on the prevalence and nature of ubiquitous molecular events that occur in neoplasms, it is unfeasible to implement molecular-targeted cancer screening and prevention. Here, we found that the FEAT protein is overexpressed in most human cancers, but weakly expressed in normal tissues including the testis, brain, and liver. Transgenic mice that ectopically expressed FEAT in the thymus, spleen, liver, and lung spontaneously developed invasive malignant lymphoma (48%, 19/40) and lung-metastasizing liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) (35%, 14/40) that models human hepatocarcinogenesis, indicating the FEAT protein potently drives tumorigenesis in vivo. Gene expression profiling suggested that FEAT drives receptor tyrosine kinase and hedgehog signalling pathways. These findings demonstrate that integrated efforts to identify FEAT-like ubiquitous oncoproteins are useful and may provide promising approaches for cost-effective cancer screening and prevention.
