A human gene that causes the growth and spread of cancer was identified by a team of Republic of Korea (ROK) scientists.

"Through mice experiments, we proved a protein, called E2-EPF ubiquitin carrier protein, prompts cancerous cells to proliferate or metastasize," said Im Dong-soo, head of the team at the Korean Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology.

"By targeting the protein, which has something to do with cancers in the breast, liver and bowel, we think we will be able to come up with effective drugs in the future," Im added.

Im and his colleagues applied for a domestic patent on the new found cancer regulator and are looking to register an international patent immediately, the newspaper said.

According to the newspaper, Im's research was recognized by Nature Medicine, a sister journal of the illustrious Nature, that featured an article on it at website www.nature.com/nm/.

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韩国科研人员日前发现了可促进癌细胞增殖及转移的遗传基因。

据悉，韩国首次发现名为“E2-EPF载体泛素”的蛋白质(UCP)可促进癌细胞的增殖和转移，这在患有肿瘤的实验鼠身上得到了证实。研究论文已被刊登在国际医疗杂志《自然医学》3日的网络版上。

科研组利用免疫荧光技术和患肿瘤的实验鼠，发现与发生肝癌有关的UCP影响可抑制癌细胞增殖的蛋白质“VHL”的分解，在癌组织周边形成血管，提供癌细胞增殖所必需的氧和营养，使癌细胞增殖。

以往，科学家们完全不清楚UCP在细胞当中的功能及与癌细胞发生变化的相关性，但被该科研组发现它可以调节抑制癌细胞的DHL。

此前只在实验鼠身上观察了VHL抑制癌细胞增殖的功能，因此仍对VHL蛋白质抗癌功能存在怀疑。通过此次研究发现，VHL抑制癌细胞增殖功能在人类癌培育细胞中无效是因为UCP，这表明VHL蛋白质拥有显著的抗癌效果。

通过此次研究，就促进UCP功能弱化低分子化合物发掘体系和阻断发现UCP的小分子干扰核糖核酸(SiRNA)以及利用发现UCP的带菌者来治疗癌症遗传基因等申请了国内特许专利，同时正在推进获得国际特许专利。

该科研组论文的主要作者郑初绿博士表示，通过此次研究，确认了各种原发癌和转移癌细胞中的UCP过度表现，这在癌症治疗体系的开发中证实分子表现具有重大意义。