Cancer is one of the leading causesof death. Meanwhile, lung cancer is the first death cause of malignant tumorsin China. As for the reason of lung cancer and other cancer, it is known thatthe abnormal expression and synergy of some oncogenes and TSG (TumorSuppression Gene) cause the changes of cell biological behavior which is the main pathological mechanism of cancer.

A research team from Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS has been devoted into the study of lung cancerrelated genes. In previous studies, the team screened novel lung cancer relatedgenes using a combination of cytogenetic and molecular genetic methods. The research showed that MCRS1 is over expressed in lung cancer cells. The overexpression of MCRS1 would promote the increase and migration of lung cancercells, so MCRS1 is a potential oncogene. The later study revealed that MCRS1could combine with miR-155 directly and activate the genetic function ofmiR-155 which would cause the overexpression of miR-155 in lung cancer cells.

In a recent research, the researchers found that the change of DNA copy number caused the over expression of MCRS1 and excessive miR-155 which could combined with the NTS (NonTranscribed Sequence) of Rb1 mRNA and inhibited the transcription of Rb1. It would reduce the expression of protein Rb1 and promote the proliferation of lung cancer cells. The research showed that beside the synergy between oncogenes and TSG, it still had complex relationships between expression andregulation. Oncogene–miRNA–TSG networks is one of its regulatory mechanism.

The research result has beenpublished on Journal of Experimental& Clinical Cancer Researcher. This research has broken a new path forthe study of molecular mechanisms between the oncogenes and TSG expression and the clarification of the pathology on cancer.

Source: Kunming Institute ofZoology, CAS

Time: 2015.12.30