目前Id蛋白与肝癌相关性的研究仍鲜有报道. 初步发现高表达的Id1可能是预测慢性肝炎肝硬化患者的肝癌发生风险有价值的指标[10]. 通过组织微阵列研究表明Id1的表达与VEGF表达显著相关,它可通过稳定化处理HIF?1 alpha(缺氧诱导因子?1alpha)蛋白而介导VEGF的转录活性. 下调VEGF可抑制Id1从而延缓肿瘤细胞侵袭[11]. 我们成功构建了Id1两段不同长度的启动子载体并顺利转染肝癌HepG2细胞系,使受控于Id1启动子的Luc报道基因在HepG2细胞中得到瞬时表达. 24 h后测定细胞内Luc活性的结果提示,两个启动子片段与空载体相比均显示出较高的活性,提示此DNA区域(-189 bp~+76 bp) 为Id1启动子的核心部位;而其中Id1p1片段启动子活性更高,提示此DNA区域(-1019 bp~-189 bp)可能存在某些转录因子的正性调控元件. 而哪些转录因子可以结合到这部分区域并发挥调控作用还有待于进一步研究. 我们的实验结果为将来进一步研究可作用于Id1启动子的相关因子及研究Id1在肝癌发生发展过程中的作用及机制奠定了实验基础.
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