抗肿瘤药物端粒酶抑制剂的研究进展

Telomerase inhibition as cancer therapy

端粒酶是维持端粒长度的逆转录酶,对细胞增殖、衰老及永生化和癌变起重要作用,在多数肿瘤中表达较高。端粒酶已成为肿瘤治疗的重要靶点。端粒酶抑制剂被认为是一类潜在的高选择性的抗癌药物,抑制剂的开发研究为恶性肿瘤的早期诊断和治疗开辟了新的途径。本文就端粒酶抑制剂与肿瘤治疗的研究进展作一综述。

Telomerase, an unique reverse transcriptase activating a telomere maintenance mechanism, plays an important role in proliferation, senescence and immortalization of human cells , even to tumor mutations. It is activated in the vast majority of tumors . Therefore , telomerase has been proposed as preferential target for anti-cancer drug development . The inhibition of telomerase , regarded as new anti - cancer drugs with potential selectivity , has inspired the development of new strategy for diagnosis, prognosis and therapy in cancer. This review discussed current approaches that inhibit telomere or telomerase in cancer treatments.