人类视网膜母细胞瘤的细胞起源

The cell of origin of human retinoblastoma

人类视网膜母细胞瘤（RB）是起源于神经原，还是神经胶质细胞或视网膜祖细胞，是一个长期存在争论的问题。随着电子显微镜的广泛应用, 以及对视网膜母细胞瘤基因（Rb基因）和蛋白功能研究的不断深入，大量证据表明人类RB很可能起源于红绿视锥前体细胞。若能选择性地在人视锥前体细胞中剔除Rb基因，就能确切地知道视锥前体细胞是否为人RB的细胞起源。因此，针对视锥细胞信号传导通路的研究将是今后RB研究的新热点。

The debate on the cell of origin of human retinoblastoma lasted for more than one century. In the recent issue of “cell”, David Cobrinik′s group shows that L/M cone precursors are the most likely answer as they have an intrinsic circuitry, including murine double minute 2 （MDM2）, Nmyc, the nuclear receptors retinoid X receptor and thyroxine receptor 2, making them extremely sensitive to transformation following retinoblastoma gene inactivation.