Sulić Sanda, Panić Linda, Dikić Ivan, Volarević Sinisa
Department of Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology, Rijeka University School of Medicine, Brace Branchetta 20, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
Croat Med J. 2005 Aug;46(4):622-38.
Cell growth and cell division are fundamental aspects of cell behavior in all organisms. Recent insights from many model organisms have shed light on the molecular mechanisms that control cell growth and cell division. A significant body of evidence has now been accumulated, showing a direct link between deregulation of components of cell cycle machinery and cancer. In addition, defects in one or more steps that control growth are important for malignant transformation, as many tumor suppressors and proto-oncogenes have been found to regulate cell growth. The importance of cell growth in tumor development is further supported by the discovery that rapamycin, an effective anticancer drug, inhibits a key regulator of protein synthetic machinery and cell growth, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). In most cases, cell growth and cell division are coupled, thereby maintaining cell size within physiological limits. We believe that, in a long-term perspective, understanding how these two processes are coordinated in vivo and how their interplay is deregulated in a number of diseases, including cancer, may have a direct impact on the efficiency of modern therapeutics.
细胞生长和细胞分裂是所有生物体细胞行为的基本方面。许多模式生物最近的研究成果揭示了控制细胞生长和细胞分裂的分子机制。目前已经积累了大量证据，表明细胞周期机制成分的失调与癌症之间存在直接联系。此外，由于发现许多肿瘤抑制因子和原癌基因可调节细胞生长，因此控制生长的一个或多个步骤中的缺陷对于恶性转化很重要。雷帕霉素是一种有效的抗癌药物，它能抑制蛋白质合成机制和细胞生长的关键调节因子——哺乳动物雷帕霉素靶蛋白（mTOR），这一发现进一步支持了细胞生长在肿瘤发展中的重要性。在大多数情况下，细胞生长和细胞分裂是相互关联的，从而将细胞大小维持在生理限度内。我们认为，从长远来看，了解这两个过程在体内是如何协调的，以及它们在包括癌症在内的多种疾病中是如何失调的，可能会直接影响现代治疗的效果。
