科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了感染一種逆轉(zhuǎn)錄病毒與前列腺癌之間的強(qiáng)有力的聯(lián)系,，每6位美國男性就有1位患有前列腺癌。該研究可能為開發(fā)新的診斷標(biāo)記提供機(jī)會(huì)，而且有潛力用抗逆轉(zhuǎn)錄病毒療法或者疫苗預(yù)防或治療前列腺癌,，這種方法已經(jīng)用于常常導(dǎo)致宮頸癌的人類乳頭瘤病毒,。近來的研究在前列腺癌中發(fā)現(xiàn)了異嗜性鼠白血病病毒相關(guān)病毒（XMRV） ，并且發(fā)現(xiàn)了攜帶一種特定遺傳變異的人類男性亞群更容易受到病毒的感染,。
Ila Singh及其同事檢查了300個(gè)前列腺癌標(biāo)本,，結(jié)果在超過1/4的樣本中發(fā)現(xiàn)了XMRV。這組科學(xué)家報(bào)告說,，這種病毒更可能出現(xiàn)在更具侵略性的癌癥中,，而且病毒蛋白出現(xiàn)在了癌細(xì)胞中，這提示XMRV感染可能與腫瘤形成有直接的聯(lián)系,。感染的發(fā)生獨(dú)立于RNase L基因的變種——這一發(fā)現(xiàn)把“面臨風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”的人群從一小群遺傳易感人群擴(kuò)展到了所有男性,。根據(jù)XMRV的外觀、序列比較,，以及與其他已知逆轉(zhuǎn)錄病毒的相似性,，這組科學(xué)家把這種病毒歸為γ逆轉(zhuǎn)錄病毒。這一病毒屬的成員已知會(huì)導(dǎo)致許多動(dòng)物的白血病和肉瘤,，但是此前尚未被證明能導(dǎo)致人類癌癥,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
PNAS September 8, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0906922106
XMRV is present in malignant prostatic epithelium and is associated with prostate cancer, especially high-grade tumors
Robert Schlaberga,1, Daniel J. Choeb, Kristy R. Browna, Harshwardhan M. Thakerb and Ila R. Singha,b,2
aDepartment of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, 622 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032; and
bDepartment of Pathology, University of Utah, Emma Eccles Jones Medical Research Building, 15 North Medical Drive East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV) was recently discovered in human prostate cancers and is the first gammaretrovirus known to infect humans. While gammaretroviruses have well-characterized oncogenic effects in animals, they have not been shown to cause human cancers. We provide experimental evidence that XMRV is indeed a gammaretrovirus with protein composition and particle ultrastructure highly similar to Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV), another gammaretrovirus. We analyzed 334 consecutive prostate resection specimens, using a quantitative PCR assay and immunohistochemistry (IHC) with an anti-XMRV specific antiserum. We found XMRV DNA in 6% and XMRV protein expression in 23% of prostate cancers. XMRV proteins were expressed primarily in malignant epithelial cells, suggesting that retroviral infection may be directly linked to tumorigenesis. XMRV infection was associated with prostate cancer, especially higher-grade cancers. We found XMRV infection to be independent of a common polymorphism in the RNASEL gene, unlike results previously reported. This finding increases the population at risk for XMRV infection from only those homozygous for the RNASEL variant to all individuals. Our observations provide evidence for an association of XMRV with malignant cells and with more aggressive tumors.
