天然嵌合基因的结构特性及其对基因设计的启示

Structural characteristics of natural chimeric genes and their implications for gene design

天然嵌合基因(natural chimeric gene)是由两个或两个以上的独立基因天然融合而成的新基因,该类型基因的发现,突破了"一个基因对应一个染色体座位"的经典认知,扩展了基因的概念。在人类癌症研究过程中,诸多的嵌合基因可导致肿瘤相关疾病,并作为癌症分子的诊断标志而受到人们的广泛关注。本文基于嵌合基因生物信息学方面的相关研究,以癌基因为切入点,从天然嵌合基因的融合特点、转录、调控,以及融合蛋白的结构域组合形式和功能等方面,结合本研究组前期的相关工作,综述了嵌合基因融合结构和功能的研究进展,探讨了当前研究工作的困难与挑战,并对嵌合规律在新基因设计的应用作了展望。

The natural chimeric gene is a novel gene fused by two or more independent genes.Its discovery extends the classical gene concept that one gene resides in one chromosomal locus.During tumorigenesis,many chimeric genes lead to tumor-related diseases;therefore,it is one molecular marker for cancer diagnosis.In this review,we summarize the research progress of chimeric genes in terms of their feature,structure,transcription,regulation and function.We pinpoint the difficulties and challenges in the current research work,and discuss the application of chimeric gene in the new gene design.