乳腺癌罪恶基因之首被发现：可调控肿瘤细胞内上千个基因

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'Crime Boss' Gene May Spur Breast Cancer

WEDNESDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified a gene they say can promote aggressive breast cancer by acting as a kind of \"crime boss,\" capable of changing the behavior of more than 1,000 genes within tumor cells.
周三， 3月12日（HealthDay 新闻） -科学家们已经发现一种基因，他们说这种能作为一种\"罪恶之首\"的基因可促进乳腺癌侵蚀性的行为而且比在肿瘤细胞的其他的1000个的基因都强。

So far, the research has been limited to mice. But if the finding holds true in planned human studies, it may help doctors predict which breast cancers are likely to be aggressive and spread, said Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the corresponding author of the study along with her husband, fellow researcher Yoshinori Kohwi, who's also with the Berkeley laboratory.
到目前为止，这项研究已不仅限于小鼠。但是，如果在计划的人体试验研研究中能发现是正确的话，它可以帮助医生预测哪些乳腺癌有可能具有侵蚀性和扩散转移，在劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室，加利福尼亚大学伯克利分校工作的一名叫terumi kohwi – shigematsu的资深科学家说。她是这项试验的通讯作者，她与她的丈夫，资深研究员人物Yoshinori kohwi ，一同在本伯克利实验室工作。

The gene, SATB1, \"is a regulator of whether the cancer spreads,\" Kohwi-Shigematsu said. \"SATB1 was cloned by us [at the Berkeley lab] in 1992. The gene is already known to be expressed in activated T-cells in animals as part of the immune system response.\"
基因SATB1“是调节癌症是否扩散的调节基因， ”kohwi - shigematsu说。 \" SATB1于在1992年被我们克隆 [在伯克利实验室]，众所周知该基因表达在动物的激活T细胞中，作为免疫系统反应的一部分\" 。

SATB1's normal roll in the cell is to \"organize\" other genes. But when SATB1 is overactivated, the legions of growth-promoting genes that it regulates can run amok, Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu explained.
SATB1在细胞正常表达是可以\"组织\"其他基因。但是，当SATB1过度活跃时，会导致一簇生长基因集团肆意横行的表达， terumi kohwi - shigematsu解释。

Now, the researchers have pinpointed it as the gene that can promote aggressive breast cancer. \"SATB1 is a genome organizer, which allows a global change in gene expressions,\" Kohwi-Shigematsu said. \"When it is expressed in breast cancer cells, the cells acquire metastatic activity and growth advantage.\"
现在，研究人员发现了这种基因能够促进乳癌侵蚀性。 \" SATB1是一个基因组的组织者，它能让那整个基因组表达， \" kohwi - shigematsu说。 \"当它在乳腺癌细胞中表达时该细胞获得转移活性和生长优势\" 。

\"Once it is expressed,\" she added, \"cancer will spread.\" Conversely, if SATB1 is silent, cancer doesn't grow.
\"一旦它表达， \"她补充说， \"癌症会蔓延\" 。反过来说，如果SATB1是沉默，癌症并不成长。

For the research, the study authors took an established line of breast cancer cells and injected them into laboratory mice. When the scientists disrupted the SATB1 and stopped the expression of the SATB1 protein from the gene, the cancer cells stopped growing and dividing. And when they deliberately expressed the gene in the cancer cells, the tumors grew more aggressively, Kohwi-Shigematsu said.
用于动物研究时，这项研究的作者用已经确定为乳腺癌的癌细胞注射到实验室老鼠。当科学家打乱了SATB1并停止表达了SATB1蛋白基因，癌细胞停止生长和分化。当他们刻意在癌细胞中表达该基因，肿瘤变得更具有侵蚀性，kohwi - shigematsu说。

The findings are published in the March 13 issue ofNature.
这一研究成果发表在3月13日发行《Nature》评论中。

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, who is familiar with the new study, called it \"elegant research.\"
美国防癌协会的副首席医务官Len lichtenfeld博士，是一位熟悉这项新的研究的人，他称这项研究是\"高雅的研究\" 。

\"Basically what they have done is identify a protein that sets up a system that signals various genes within the cells to become abnormal,\" he said. \"It is setting up an environment that allows multiple genes to become 'bad' genes at the same time.\"
\"他们所做的基本上是查明一种蛋白质，这种蛋白建立了一个系统，即提供在细胞内的各种基因变成异常的信号， \"他说。 \"在这种已成立一个环境中，可使多基因在同一时间内成为'坏'的基因\" 。

While Kohwi-Shigematsu likened the SATB1 gene's activity to that of a crime \"kingpin,\" Lichtenfeld said he think of it in terms of an orchestra conductor. Either way, genes get altered.
当kohwi - shigematsu比喻SATB1基因的功能是就如一项罪行\"首领\" 的时候， lichtenfeld说，他认为SATB1基因就像是指挥者在指挥管弦乐团（一样指挥基因改变）。通过某种方式，使基因得到改变。

Lichtenfeld cautioned, however, that the finding is new and \"a long way from clinical usage.\"
然而lichtenfeld警告说，这个发现是新的，而且\"在临床应用上有很长的路要走\" 。

Kohwi-Shigematsu said her team next plans to study the gene's expression and its effects in people. \"We don't know for sure that the cells that show SATB1 expression with the tumors are the ones that metastasize in a patient. But we think most likely that is the case.\"
kohwi - shigematsu说，她的研究小组今后计划研究该基因的表达及其对人的影响。 \"我们不能确定在肿瘤病人细胞中显示SATB1表达，就是与该肿瘤转移一定有关，但我们认为最有可能的情况就是这样\" 。

If the research continues to bear fruit, the hope is that the presence of the gene's expressed protein will help doctors identify which breast cancers will spread, even in the disease's early stages.
如果该研究继续结出硕果，基因的表达蛋白出现将有希望帮助医生确定哪些乳癌的发病率会蔓延，甚至在疾病的早期阶段。

Lichtenfeld added that the finding may also lead to new treatment options for breast cancer.
lichtenfeld补充说，这一发现还可能导致新的对乳癌治疗方案的选择，。

In another study, published in the March 12 issue of theJournal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers reported another genetic finding. People who carry a rare variant of the AKAP9 gene have a 10 percent increased relative risk of breast cancer in their lifetime if they have one copy of the variant. If they have two copies, the increased relative risk is 17 percent.
3月12日在国家癌症研究所杂志上发表的在另一项研究结果是研究人员报告另外一个基因被找到。携带有罕见与akap9基因变异有关的人在其一生中，如果他们有一个拷贝的变异，有百分之十的相对增长危险性发展为乳腺癌；如果他们有两个拷贝，其相对危险度会增加到百分之十七。