Department of Science, University of "Roma Tre", 00146, Rome, Italy,
Amino Acids. 2014 Mar;46(3):521-30. doi: 10.1007/s00726-013-1572-3. Epub 2013 Aug 10.
Natural polyamines (PA) are cationic molecules affecting cell growth and proliferation. An association between increased polyamine biosynthesis and inflammation-induced carcinogenesis has been recognised. On the other hand, there are indications that inflammatory stimuli can up-regulate polyamine catabolism and that altered polyamine metabolism could affect pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Since the polyamine content is strictly related to cell growth, a consistent number of evidences relate polyamine metabolism dysfunction with cancer. The increase of polyamine levels in malignant and proliferating cells attracted the interest of scientists during last decades, addressing polyamine depletion as a new strategy to inhibit carcinogenesis. Several studies suggest that PA also play an important role in neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms by which they participate in neuronal death are still unclear. Furthermore, the role of endogenous PA in normal brain functioning is yet to be elucidated. The consequences of an alteration of polyamine metabolism have also been approached in vivo with the use of transgenic animals overexpressing or devoid of some enzymes involved in polyamine metabolism. In the present work we review the experimental investigation carried out on inflammation, cancerogenesis and neurodegeneration using transgenic animals engineered as models for polyamine research.
天然多胺（PA）是影响细胞生长和增殖的阳离子分子。已经认识到多胺生物合成的增加与炎症诱导的致癌作用之间存在关联。另一方面，有迹象表明，炎症刺激可以上调多胺分解代谢，并且改变的多胺代谢可能影响促炎和抗炎细胞因子。由于多胺含量与细胞生长严格相关，大量证据将多胺代谢功能障碍与癌症联系起来。在过去的几十年中，恶性和增殖细胞中多胺水平的增加引起了科学家的兴趣，将多胺耗竭作为抑制致癌作用的新策略。几项研究表明，PA 还在神经退行性变中发挥重要作用，但它们参与神经元死亡的机制仍不清楚。此外，内源性 PA 在正常大脑功能中的作用仍有待阐明。还使用过表达或缺乏某些参与多胺代谢的酶的转基因动物在体内研究了多胺代谢改变的后果。在本工作中，我们综述了使用多胺研究的转基因动物模型进行的炎症、癌症发生和神经退行性变的实验研究。
