生物谷：癌细胞的恒久生命与导致人死亡的衰老过程看起来似乎是相对立的。但令人吃惊的是，癌细胞和衰老过程的生物学基础却是相合的。基因组不稳定、端粒异常和自噬作用等在癌症和衰老的相关研究中成为了热点问题。
研究人员已经在肿瘤发生与细胞衰老之间发现了联系。线粒体代谢似乎可以对这两个问题进行合理解释。Finkel等人从历史角度向我们介绍了癌症和衰老的共同生物学基础：从第一次意识到人类癌细胞—Hela细胞—在培养中有可能继续分裂一直谈到系统生物学方法的问世。
图：The potential interplay between stem cells, stress, ageing and cancer
原始出处:
Nature 448, 767-774 (16 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/nature05985
The common biology of cancer and ageing
Toren Finkel1, Manuel Serrano2 & Maria A. Blasco2
At first glance, cancer and ageing would seem to be unlikely bedfellows. Yet the origins for this improbable union can actually be traced back to a sequence of tragic—and some say unethical—events that unfolded more than half a century ago. Here we review the series of key observations that has led to a complex but growing convergence between our understanding of the biology of ageing and the mechanisms that underlie cancer.
Cardiology Branch, NIH, NHLBI, Building 10/CRC 5-3330, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO) 3 Melchor Fernandez Almagro Street, Madrid 28029, Spain
Correspondence to: Toren Finkel1 Correspondence should be addressed to T.F. (Email: finkelt@nih.gov).
