'Role of RACO-1 in tissue homeostasis and cancer'

现已知，癌症起源于对控制细胞正常生长至关重要的细胞蛋白质的解除管制。肺癌是西方国家最常见的癌症相关死亡原因之一，RAS是这种癌症中一种常见的蛋白质突变。有人认为RAS的去调控发生在由肺干细胞组成的特定的肺细胞区域，这就是癌症的起源。这一点很重要，因为它意味着药物治疗可以针对器官内的特定靶点，从而消除癌症的原因并减少不想要的副作用。我们最近发现了一种新的蛋白质RACO-1，它可能是RAS和另一种促癌蛋白c-Jun1之间的重要分子联系。在这里，我们将使用不同的小鼠实验系统来研究RACO-1在肺癌中的作用。我们希望这些研究将帮助我们了解正常和致瘤肺干细胞的增殖和发育是如何调节的，以及RACO-1在这方面可能发挥的作用。这些研究将帮助我们确定肺癌发展的新调控因素，从而为合理的药物设计发现新的靶点。

Cancer is now known to originate from the deregulation of cellular proteins important for controlling the normal growth of cells. Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death in western countries and Ras is a protein commonly mutation in this form of cancer. It has been suggested that the deregulation of Ras occurs within a specific cellular area of the lung comprising of lung stem cells, and that this is the origin of the cancer. This is important as it implies that that drug treatment could be directed to defined targets within the organ and thus eliminates the cause of cancer and reduces unwanted side effects. We have recently identified a novel protein, RACO-1, that could be an important molecular link between Ras and another cancer promoting protein, c-Jun. Here we will investigate the role of RACO-1 in lung cancer using various mouse experimental systems. We hope these studies will help us understand how the proliferation and development of normal and tumorigenic lung stem cells is regulated and how RACO-1 may function in this context. These studies will help us identify new regulators of lung cancer development, thus enabling the discovery of novel targets for rational drug design.