当前癌症治疗中面对的一个困难是，如何在治疗过程中只针对恶性细胞而不杀死健康细胞。加拿大科学家的一项最新研究将有可能帮助解决这一问题，开发能更好地对付癌细胞而不损害健康细胞的疗法和药物。相关论文1月4日在线发表于《自然—生物技术》（Nature Biotechnology）。
加拿大麦克马斯特大学研究人员第一次论证了人类正常干细胞和癌症干细胞的区别。这一发现最终能够帮助发展对个体病人的癌症治疗方法，并将会提供一个药物开发模型，通过自动筛选来寻找具有摧毁癌细胞潜力的分子。
麦克马斯特大学干细胞和癌症研究中心科学主管Mick Bhatia表示：“正常干细胞和癌症干细胞很难区分，现在我们有办法了。这一发现也让我们可以在实验室中比较正常干细胞和癌症干细胞，并按照其表达的基因和起反应的药物来定义这两者之间的差别。最重要的是，现在我们能够利用这一发现，找到一种或一系列可以杀灭癌症干细胞的药物，同时不会伤害正常的健康细胞。”
Bhatia说：“麦克马斯特大学有最好的筛选平台和化学实验室，发现可抗击传染病分子的Eric Brown和Gerry Wright教授也在这里，他们经验丰富，现在我们可以把这一切集中起来。研究小组的目标是消灭癌症。”（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature Biotechnology 4 January 2009 | doi:10.1038/nbt.1516
Characterization of human embryonic stem cells with features of neoplastic progression
Tamra E Werbowetski-Ogilvie1, Marc Bossé1, Morag Stewart1, Angelique Schnerch1, Veronica Ramos-Mejia1, Anne Rouleau1, Tracy Wynder1, Mary-Jo Smith2, Steve Dingwall3, Tim Carter3, Christopher Williams4, Charles Harris4, Joanna Dolling5, Christopher Wynder1, Doug Boreham3 & Mickie Bhatia1
Cultured human embryonic stem (hES) cells can acquire genetic and epigenetic changes that make them vulnerable to transformation. As hES cells with cancer-cell characteristics share properties with normal hES cells, such as self-renewal, teratoma formation and the expression of pluripotency markers, they may be misconstrued as superior hES cells with enhanced 'stemness'. We characterize two variant hES cell lines (v-hESC-1 and v-hESC-2) that express pluripotency markers at high levels and do not harbor chromosomal abnormalities by standard cytogenetic measures. We show that the two lines possess some features of neoplastic progression, including a high proliferative capacity, growth-factor independence, a 9- to 20-fold increase in frequency of tumor-initiating cells, niche independence and aberrant lineage specification, although they are not malignant. Array comparative genomic hybridization reveals an amplification at 20q11.1-11.2 in v-hESC-1 and a deletion at 5q34a-5q34b;5q3 and a mosaic gain of chromosome 12 in v-hESC-2. These results emphasize the need for functional characterization to distinguish partially transformed and normal hES cells.
1 Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, MDCL 5029, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada.
2 Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Centre for Gene Therapeutics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada.
3 Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
4 PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences, 940 Winter Street, Waltham, Masschusetts 02451, USA.
5 Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Credit Valley Hospital, 2200 Eglinton Avenue West, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 2N1, Canada.
