癌癥研究人員發現：MITF（小眼畸形相關轉錄因子）主要調節基因在惡性黑色素瘤中高度增強，可能是化療的一個靶標。

耶魯大學的研究人員使用HistoRx整合AQUA（自動定量分析）系統分析了在NCI160黑色素瘤細胞培養中的基因數量。AQUA是一種聯合了熒光影像、自動顯微鏡和高通量組織微陣列技術的系統。

研究人員在2005年7月7日《自然》雜志上報道說，黑色素瘤主要調節子MITF是新的黑色素瘤擴大的靶標。MITF擴大在轉移性疾病十分普遍，與患者總生存率下降有關。MITF基因多拷貝表達，增加了黑色素瘤細胞對化療藥物的抵抗性。因此，設計能夠抑制該基因擴增的藥物，能夠提高抗癌藥物的敏感性。

耶魯醫學院病理學副教授David Rimm博士說：“根據這項研究，這些資料提示MITF代表了一類“世系生存”或者“世系增加”腫瘤基因，這種基因在組織特異性發育和腫瘤進展中是必須的。

Regulator Gene a Melanoma Target
 
Cancer researchers have found that the MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) master regulator gene is highly amplified in malignant melanoma and presents an attractive target for chemotherapy.

Investigators at Yale University (New Haven, CT, USA) used the new HistoRx Incorporated (New Haven, CT, USA) AQUA (Automated Quantitative Analysis) System to analyze gene numbers in cultures of NCI160 melanoma cells. AQUA is a system that combines fluorescence-based imaging with automated microscopy and high-throughput tissue microarray technologies.

The researchers reported in the July 7, 2005, issue of Nature that the melanocyte master regulator MITF was the target of novel melanoma amplification. MITF amplification was more prevalent in metastatic disease and correlated with decreased overall patient survival. Expression of multiple copies of the MITF gene enhanced the ability of the melanoma cells to develop resistance to chemotherapy. Therefore, drugs designed to prevent amplification of the gene would increase sensitivity to anti-cancer drugs.

“According to the study, these data suggest that MITF represents a distinct class of ‘lineage survival’ or ‘lineage addiction’ oncogenes required for both tissue-specific development and tumor progression,” said contributing author Dr. David Rimm, associate professor of pathology at the Yale School of Medicine.