12月15日出版的《国际癌症杂志》上德国研究者的一篇报道指出，人类恶性黑色素瘤标本研究提示最近证实的基因TANGO有抑制肿瘤的作用。
据美国媒体消息，德国雷根斯堡大学的研究者Anja K. Bosserhoff及其同事说，她们首次发现在癌症中TANGO分子下调或者丢失，TANGO的减少与疾病进展期相关。
研究者发现与正常黑色素细胞相比，9种黑色素细胞中都有TANGO丢失或者下调。在八个人类肿瘤标本中，大多数也是这样，并且TANGO与进展期肿瘤相关。在原发和转移性黑色素瘤的切片中证实了这一发现。
研究者还发现良性黑色素瘤和不典型痣都有TANGO轻度减少。然而，他们注意到这些变化并不明显，而且有较大变异性。
黑色素瘤相关的进一步实验表明TANGO表达增加会导致肿瘤侵袭能力和活动能力明显降低，反之亦然。
Bosserhoff博士说：“因此，TANGO表达丢失可能是一个黑色素瘤患者疾病进展的预后标志，可用于肿瘤诊断学。”
至于TANGO的潜在治疗应用，作者总结说：“还需要以后进行更多的研究来评价。”
英文原文：
TANGO Inhibits Malignant Melanoma Tumors
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 15 - Study of human malignant melanoma tumor specimens suggests that the recently identified gene TANGO has a tumor inhibitory role, German researchers report in the December 15th issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
Dr. Anja K. Bosserhoff told Reuters Health that she and her colleague Dr. Stephanie Arndt have documented "for the first time that the molecule TANGO is down-regulated or even lost in cancer and that the process of TANGO reduction correlates with advanced stage of the disease."
The researchers, both from the University of Regensburg, found that compared to normal melanocytes, TANGO was lost or downregulated in 9 melanoma cell lines. This was also true of most of 8 human tumor samples, and was associated with advanced tumor stage. The findings were confirmed in sections of melanoma primary tumors and metastases.
The team also found a small reduction in TANGO in benign and atypical nevi. However, they note that it was "less dramatic" and there was considerable variability.
Further melanoma experiments indicated that an increase in TANGO expression resulted in a significant decrease in invasive potential and motility. The converse was also true.
"Therefore," continued Dr. Bosserhoff, "loss of TANGO expression may be a prognostic marker of progression in melanoma patients, usable in tumor diagnostics."
A potential therapeutic use of TANGO, she concluded, "has to be evaluated in future studies."
