Treatment of virally-induced cancers by RNA Interference.

通过 RNA 干扰治疗病毒诱发的癌症。

• 批准号: nhmrc : 301121
• 负责人: A/Pr Nicholas Saunders
• 金额: $ 25.96万
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2004-01-01 至 2006-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/treatment-virally-induced-rna-interference/81279
• 关键词: Treatment; virally; induced; cancers; RNA

Cancers require certain mutations and the over expression of genes to cause disease. Each cancer has a unique set of gene changes thus making it difficult to treat. However, it has become clear that the normal control mechanisms of many cancers are still intact but are repressed by the over expression of these oncogenes (or cancer genes). By turning off these oncogenes we can restore normal control to the cell and the cancer will die normally. We will use a new method of gene targeting called RNA interference to turn off oncogenes. RNA interference involves treatment of cells with a small peice of genetic material that provides the cell with an identity pattern of the gene to be eliminated. The cell takes the pattern and turms off the genes expression. As long as the pattern only turns off the cancer gene all other genes will remain normal. We will test this using cervical cancer as a model as all these cancers are caused by infection with a virus that carries 2 oncogenes. It is these virus oncogenes that cause the cancer and therefore we know the exact target genes that need to be turned off. Most importantly these genes are not present in normal cells making it safe to target them by RNA interference. We have gathered an expert group of investigators with experience in cervical cancer and cancer genetics to address this problem. If successful we will have proven this new technique can work against cervical cancer and this method could then be applied to any cancer. We would then be able to start human trials. Cervical cancer kills over 300 women in Australia each year, is the leading cause of cancer death in Aboriginal women, is 2nd most common cancer of women in the world and is the leading cancer killer worldwide in women under 50.

癌症需要某些突变和基因的过度表达才能引起疾病。每种癌症都有一组独特的基因变化，因此很难治疗。然而，很明显，许多癌症的正常控制机制仍然是完整的，但被这些癌基因（或癌基因）的过度表达所抑制。通过关闭这些致癌基因，我们可以恢复对细胞的正常控制，癌症将正常死亡。我们将使用一种名为RNA干扰的基因靶向新方法来关闭致癌基因。RNA干扰包括用一小块遗传物质处理细胞，为细胞提供要消除的基因的身份模式。细胞接受了这种模式并关闭了基因的表达。只要这种模式只是关闭了癌症基因，所有其他基因就会保持正常。我们将以宫颈癌为模型进行测试，因为所有这些癌症都是由携带两种致癌基因的病毒感染引起的。正是这些病毒致癌基因导致了癌症，因此我们知道需要关闭的确切目标基因。最重要的是，这些基因不存在于正常细胞中，因此通过RNA干扰来靶向它们是安全的。我们已经聚集了一个具有宫颈癌和癌症遗传学经验的专家小组来解决这个问题。如果成功，我们将证明这项新技术可以治疗宫颈癌，然后这种方法可以应用于任何癌症。然后我们就可以开始人体试验了。宫颈癌每年在澳大利亚造成300多名妇女死亡，是土著妇女癌症死亡的主要原因，是世界上第二大最常见的妇女癌症，也是全球50岁以下妇女的主要癌症杀手。