Tilling Thomas, Moll Ingrid
Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
J Skin Cancer. 2012;2012:680410. doi: 10.1155/2012/680410. Epub 2012 Dec 13.
Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a highly aggressive skin tumour with increasing incidence, is associated with the newly discovered Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). Studies on MCC and MCPyV as well as other risk factors have significantly increased our knowledge of MCC pathogenesis, but the cells of origin, which could be important targets in future therapies, are still unknown. Merkel cells (MCs), the neuroendocrine cells of the skin, were believed to be at the origin of MCC due to their phenotypic similarities. However, for several reasons, for example, heterogeneous differentiation of MCCs and postmitotic character of MCs, it is not very likely that MCC develops from differentiated MCs. Skin stem cells, probably from the epidermal lineage, are more likely to be cells of origin in MCC. Future studies will have to address these questions more directly in order to identify the physiological cells which are transformed to MCC cells.
默克尔细胞癌（MCC）是一种发病率不断上升的高度侵袭性皮肤肿瘤，与新发现的默克尔细胞多瘤病毒（MCPyV）有关。对MCC和MCPyV以及其他危险因素的研究显著增加了我们对MCC发病机制的认识，但可能成为未来治疗重要靶点的起源细胞仍然未知。默克尔细胞（MCs）是皮肤的神经内分泌细胞，由于其表型相似性，曾被认为是MCC的起源。然而，由于多种原因，例如MCC的异质性分化和MCs的有丝分裂后特性，MCC不太可能由分化的MCs发展而来。皮肤干细胞，可能来自表皮谱系，更有可能是MCC的起源细胞。未来的研究将不得不更直接地解决这些问题，以确定转化为MCC细胞的生理细胞。
