Department of Molecular Biology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Malaysia.
J Hum Genet. 2010 Feb;55(2):118-20. doi: 10.1038/jhg.2009.124. Epub 2009 Nov 20.
Extraribosomal functions of human ribosomal proteins (RPs) include the regulation of cellular growth and differentiation, and are inferred from studies that linked congenital disorders and cancer to the deregulated expression of RP genes. We have previously shown the upregulation and downregulation of RP genes in tumors of colorectal and nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPCs), respectively. Herein, we show that a subset of RP genes for the large ribosomal subunit is differentially expressed among cell lines derived from the human nasopharyngeal epithelium. Three such genes (RPL27, RPL37a and RPL41) were found to be significantly downregulated in all cell lines derived from NPC tissues compared with a nonmalignant nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line. The expression of RPL37a and RPL41 genes in human nasopharyngeal tissues has not been reported previously. Our findings support earlier suspicions on the existence of NPC-associated RP genes, and indicate their importance in human nasopharyngeal organogenesis.
核糖体蛋白（RP）的核糖体外功能包括调节细胞生长和分化，并从将先天性疾病和癌症与 RP 基因表达失调联系起来的研究中推断出来。我们之前已经表明，在结直肠癌和鼻咽癌（NPC）的肿瘤中，RP 基因的上调和下调分别存在。在此，我们表明，人鼻咽上皮细胞系中存在一组核糖体大亚基的 RP 基因表达存在差异。与非恶性鼻咽上皮细胞系相比，在所有源自 NPC 组织的细胞系中，发现三个这样的基因（RPL27、RPL37a 和 RPL41）的表达显著下调。以前没有报道过 RPL37a 和 RPL41 基因在人鼻咽组织中的表达。我们的发现支持了对 NPC 相关 RP 基因存在的早期怀疑，并表明它们在人类鼻咽器官发生中的重要性。
