霍华休斯医学院，费城儿童医院，宾夕法尼亚大学遗传学系等处的研究者在最新的Nature在线版上发表Letter文章，分析辐射导致的遗传变化对基因表达情况的影响，文章标题为：Genetic analysis of radiation-induced changes in human gene expression。
环境和医学仪器都可能给人类带来辐射。辐射的结果会导致细胞内的遗传物质受到破坏或损伤，为应对这些放射性损伤，细胞内的复合物通常通过改变基因表达情况来适应新的变化。然而，每个个体对辐射性损伤的应答处理有可能不同，具体情况因人而异。
在本研究中，研究团队鉴定出一种应对辐射损伤的基因表达调控器。研究小组用辐射诱导基因表达水平发生改变，同时对这些改变做出定量的检测，并研究基因连锁反应，追踪基因表达调控器的活动情况。结果发现染色体的特定区域与1200例辐射损伤的基因表达有关联。基因表达调控器以反式作用的方式影响基因表达水平，很少是顺式调节器。有些反式调控器起转录因子样的作用。
这些成果对辐射影响基因表达研究具有重要的指导作用，为辐射遗传学说的理论研究开辟了新的视野。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature advance online publication 6 April 2009 | doi:10.1038/nature07940
Genetic analysis of radiation-induced changes in human gene expression
Denis A. Smirnov1, Michael Morley2, Eunice Shin2, Richard S. Spielman3 & Vivian G. Cheung1,2,3,4
1 Howard Hughes Medical Institute,
2 The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,
3 Department of Genetics and,
4 Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
Humans are exposed to radiation through the environment and in medical settings. To deal with radiation-induced damage, cells mount complex responses that rely on changes in gene expression. These gene expression responses differ greatly between individuals1 and contribute to individual differences in response to radiation2. Here we identify regulators that influence expression levels of radiation-responsive genes. We treated radiation-induced changes in gene expression as quantitative phenotypes3, 4, and conducted genetic linkage and association studies to map their regulators. For more than 1,200 of these phenotypes there was significant evidence of linkage to specific chromosomal regions. Nearly all of the regulators act in trans to influence the expression of their target genes; there are very few cis-acting regulators. Some of the trans-acting regulators are transcription factors, but others are genes that were not known to have a regulatory function in radiation response. These results have implications for our basic and clinical understanding of how human cells respond to radiation.
