ACVR1C,也称为Activin A受体样激酶7(ALK7),是一种属于转化生长因子β(TGF-β)超家族的受体。ACVR1C在多种生物学过程中发挥重要作用,包括细胞生长、分化、代谢和疾病发生。ACVR1C通过与其配体Activin E结合,激活下游的SMAD信号通路,进而影响细胞内的基因表达和生物学过程。
ACVR1C在肥胖症的发生发展中起着重要作用。研究发现,ACVR1C基因的突变与身体脂肪分布的改变有关。例如,ACVR1C基因的缺失突变与较低的腰臀比和较低的2型糖尿病风险相关[1]。此外,ACVR1C基因的某些突变还可以影响脂肪细胞的脂解作用,进而影响脂肪的储存和代谢[2]。这些发现表明,ACVR1C可能成为治疗肥胖症和相关代谢性疾病的新靶点。
ACVR1C在癌症的发生发展中也可能发挥着重要作用。例如,研究发现,ACVR1C基因在结直肠癌中表达上调,并与脑转移的发生相关[3]。此外,ACVR1C基因的激活还与视网膜母细胞瘤的侵袭和生长相关[4]。这些发现提示,ACVR1C可能成为治疗癌症的新靶点。
除了在肥胖症和癌症中的作用,ACVR1C还与认知功能有关。研究发现,ACVR1C基因的表达与小鼠的记忆形成相关[5]。此外,ACVR1C基因的表达还与人类的认知功能有关,例如,ACVR1C基因的表达在衰老的人类和小鼠大脑中下降,而ACVR1C基因的过表达可以改善学习和促进突触可塑性[5]。
综上所述,ACVR1C是一种重要的TGF-β超家族受体,在肥胖症、癌症和认知功能等方面发挥着重要作用。ACVR1C的突变和表达改变与多种疾病的发生发展相关,这为疾病的治疗和预防提供了新的思路和策略。
参考文献:
1. Deaton, Aimee M, Dubey, Aditi, Ward, Lucas D, Vaishnaw, Akshay K, Nioi, Paul. 2022. Rare loss of function variants in the hepatokine gene INHBE protect from abdominal obesity. In Nature communications, 13, 4319. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31757-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35896531/
2. Adam, Rene C, Pryce, Dwaine S, Lee, Joseph S, Sleeman, Mark W, Gusarova, Viktoria. 2023. Activin E-ACVR1C cross talk controls energy storage via suppression of adipose lipolysis in mice. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120, e2309967120. doi:10.1073/pnas.2309967120. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37523551/
3. Michl, Marlies, Taverna, Francesco, Woischke, Christine, Kumbrink, Jörg, Neumann, Jens. 2024. Identification of a gene expression signature associated with brain metastasis in colorectal cancer. In Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico, 26, 1886-1895. doi:10.1007/s12094-024-03408-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38558282/
4. Keiser, Ashley A, Dong, Tri N, Kramár, Enikö A, Cotman, Carl W, Wood, Marcelo A. 2024. Specific exercise patterns generate an epigenetic molecular memory window that drives long-term memory formation and identifies ACVR1C as a bidirectional regulator of memory in mice. In Nature communications, 15, 3836. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-47996-w. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38714691/
5. Tangseefa, Pawanrat, Jin, Hong, Zhang, Houyu, Xie, Meng, Ibáñez, Carlos F. 2024. Human ACVR1C missense variants that correlate with altered body fat distribution produce metabolic alterations of graded severity in knock-in mutant mice. In Molecular metabolism, 81, 101890. doi:10.1016/j.molmet.2024.101890. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38307384/