转贴全文：重大发现：美国医院成功将癌细胞逆转为正常细胞

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‘Reprogramming’ cancer cells can reverse tumor – study

A team of scientists from Mayo Clinic in Florida have managed to reverse the progress of cancer by “reprogramming” its cells preventing further tumor growth.

It is possible to “turn off” the deadly disease by restoring the function which prevents cells from growing and multiplying uncontrollably, the study published in Nature Cell Biology suggests.

“We have found a new mechanism by which normal cells undergo transition to become tumorigenic,” said Panos Anastasiadis, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at Mayo Clinic's Florida campus.

In their normal state, cells are prevented from an uncontrolled growth by a special “glue” which holds them together. This glue is controlled by biological microprocessors called microRNAs. MicroRNA uses a special protein PLEKHA7 as an instrument of regulation.

The scientists discovered that removal of that mechanism switches on cancer development, and vice versa – the mechanism can be restored by delivering MicroRNA molecules to cancer cells, reversing the spread of the disease.

“These [cancer] cells are already missing PLEKHA7. Restoring either PLEKHA7 levels, or the levels of miRNAs in these cells turns them back to a benign state,” Anastasiadis said, as cited by the Telegraph.

The researchers also revealed that the glue, which primarily consists of two proteins – E-cadherin and p120 catenin – actually promotes cancer when it is deprived of PLEKHA7. That means that some molecules have “two faces” – a “good one” when they have a positive function under normal circumstances and a “bad one” when they become harmful due to deviations.

“I think for therapy it is very important because it shows the way we can turn cancerous cells back to a more normal state,” Anastasiadis said.

Experts highlight the importance of the study, but are skeptical about the possible effectiveness of such treatment.

“This important study solves a long-standing biological mystery, but we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves,” said Henry Scowcroft, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information manager, the Telegraph reports.

“There’s a long way to go before we know whether these findings, in cells grown in a laboratory, will help treat people with cancer. But it’s a significant step forward in understanding how certain cells in our body know when to grow, and when to stop,” he added.

“I think in reality it is unlikely that you could reverse tumours by reversing just one mechanism, but it’s a very interesting finding,” concluded Dr. Chris Bakal from the Institute for Cancer Research in London.

newlife · 发表于 2015-8-30 23:21:23

据最新《自然细胞生物学》（Nature Cell Biology）杂志介绍，佛罗里达州梅奥医院（Mayo Clinic in Florida）在实验室里，成功通过“重新编程”的细胞防止肿瘤进一步生长将癌细胞逆转为正常细胞。

癌症病人死亡的原因是：自身细胞因为失去“控制”，导致大量增生繁殖，最后耗尽机体的营养造成生命的终结。

弗罗里达梅奥医院此项研究是对癌细胞重新编程（reprogramming），从而达到防止肿瘤继续生长的目的。

人体正常细胞会产生突变，变成癌细胞，但把该突变的“开关”关闭（Turn Off），就可以阻止突变的细胞不受控制地大量生长，这是现代癌症研究的基本原理，弗罗里达梅奥医院正是发现了这个开关。

通常而言，当细胞生长到一定数量，都会有一种“胶水”（Glue）把细胞紧密连接在一起，使细胞不再无限制生长增多，而这个“胶水”，是由小分子RNA（MiRNA）通过PLEKHA7这种特殊蛋白来控制的。

研究团队发现，癌细胞里缺乏PLEKHA7蛋白，如果给癌细胞恢复该蛋白水准，或者恢复癌细胞内小分子RNA水准，就会使癌细胞恢复到正常细胞（back to a benign state）。

该发现可能使癌症治疗出现重大突破，但有关专家持审慎态度，有专家认为，癌症发生机理复杂，可能不是单一因素就可以让癌细胞转变成正常细胞的。

无论如何，人们期待该发现能够尽早得到临床验证，成为根治癌症的一种有效手段。