英國科學(xué)家近日研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，大約70%的皮膚癌（黑素瘤）可能都是由同一種突變基因所誘發(fā),，在過多的日曬情況下，該基因會(huì)導(dǎo)致細(xì)胞癌變,。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)將導(dǎo)致對(duì)于惡性皮膚癌更好的療法,。相關(guān)論文4月7日發(fā)表在《癌細(xì)胞》（Cancer Cell）上。
該基因名為BRAF,，科學(xué)家早已知道，黑素瘤患者體內(nèi)的BRAF基因經(jīng)常遭到破壞,，但一直不清楚這是誘發(fā)黑素瘤的原因還是其導(dǎo)致的結(jié)果,。
論文通訊作者,、英國癌癥研究所的Richard Marais說：“我們的研究顯示，BRAF的遺傳損傷是皮膚癌發(fā)展的第一步,。理解這一過程將幫助我們開發(fā)更有效的療法,。”
研究人員希望，通過理解皮膚癌背后的遺傳機(jī)制來開發(fā)出相關(guān)的靶標(biāo)藥物,，從而能夠修補(bǔ)不完善的遺傳機(jī)制,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Cancer Cell, 7 April 2009 doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2009.02.022
Oncogenic Braf Induces Melanocyte Senescence and Melanoma in Mice
Nathalie Dhomen1,5,Jorge S. Reis-Filho2,5,Silvy da Rocha Dias1,5,Robert Hayward1,Kay Savage2,Veronique Delmas3,Lionel Larue3,Catrin Pritchard4andRichard Marais1,,
1 Signal Transduction Team, Cancer Research UK Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London SW3 6JB, UK
2 Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, London SW3 6JB, UK
3 Institut Curie, UMR146 CNRS, 91405 Orsay, France
4 Department of Biochemistry, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
5 These authors contributed equally to this work
We show here that inducible expression of BrafV600E off the endogenous Braf gene in mouse melanocytes stimulates skin hyperpigmentation and the appearance of nevi harboring senescent melanocytes. Additionally, approximately 70% of BrafV600E mice develop melanomas that reproduce many of the cardinal histological and molecular features of human melanoma and whose cells can colonize the lungs of nude mice. We show that the tumor suppressor p16INK4a is not required to induce melanocyte senescence and that its loss is not required for tumor progression, although it does regulate tumor penetrance and latency. Thus, we have developed a mouse model of melanoma driven by BrafV600E expressed at physiological levels that reflects the genetics and pathology of the human disease.
