α7烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体在肺癌中作用的研究进展

Research progress on α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in lung cancer

肺癌是全球发病率和死亡率最高的恶性肿瘤之一。吸烟是肺癌最主要的危险因素,尼古丁是烟草烟雾中危害最大的成分之一。烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体(nicotinic acetylcholine receptors,nAChRs)在哺乳动物体细胞和癌细胞中均广泛存在,并执行多种重要功能。α7nAChR是nAChRs家族重要成员,与尼古丁具有高亲和力,在尼古丁诱导的肺癌细胞增殖、血管生成、侵袭和远处转移过程中起关键作用。目前,许多α7nAChR抑制剂已在体外和体内研究中显示出抑制肺癌细胞增殖、侵袭和血管生成从而对抗疾病进展的良好效果,提示α7nAChR可能成为肺癌潜在治疗靶点。本文对α7nAChR在肺癌进展中作用的研究进展进行综述。

Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent and deadly malignances worldwide.Cigarette smoking has been identified to be the major risk factor of lung cancer,and nicotine is one of the most harmful components in tobacco smoke.Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors(nAChRs)are universally expressed in mammalian cells,including tumor cells,and perform various critical biological functions.α7nAChR,an important member of nAChRs family,possesses a high affinity for nicotine and plays a core role in the nicotine-mediated lung cancer cell proliferation,angiogenesis,invasion and metastasis.Nowadays,lots ofα7nAChR antagonists have been found to inhibit lung cancer cell proliferation,invasion and angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo,and therefore prevented disease progression.These studies indicated thatα7nAChR might be a potential target in treating lung cancer.In this review,we summarized the current researches onα7nAChR in the progress of lung cancer.