Oncogenomics Unit, Core Research Laboratory, Istituto Toscano Tumori (CRL-ITT), c/o IFC-CNR Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Sci Signal. 2012 Sep 18;5(242):re5. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.2002858.
Because they are generally noncoding and thus considered nonfunctional and unimportant, pseudogenes have long been neglected. Recent advances have established that the DNA of a pseudogene, the RNA transcribed from a pseudogene, or the protein translated from a pseudogene can have multiple, diverse functions and that these functions can affect not only their parental genes but also unrelated genes. Therefore, pseudogenes have emerged as a previously unappreciated class of sophisticated modulators of gene expression, with a multifaceted involvement in the pathogenesis of human cancer.
由于它们通常是非编码的，因此被认为是无功能和不重要的，假基因长期以来一直被忽视。最近的进展表明，假基因的 DNA、从假基因转录的 RNA 或从假基因翻译的蛋白质可以具有多种不同的功能，这些功能不仅可以影响其亲本基因，还可以影响不相关的基因。因此，假基因已经成为一类以前未被重视的复杂基因表达调节剂，它们在人类癌症的发病机制中具有多方面的作用。
