澳大利亚科学家发明了一种新的基因测序技术，其精度大大高于现有方法。它就像一台倍数更高的显微镜，可用于对基因组进行精细研究，并帮助快速诊断血癌（即白血病）。

这项技术被称为“捕获测序”，由新南威尔士大学和加文医学研究所的科研人员开发，发表在新一期英国《自然·方法学》杂志上。

新南威尔士大学日前发布的公告称，该技术可以精确测量样本中多个特定基因的活跃程度，即使活跃程度非常低也能检测出来。这种敏感性使它在生物医学研究方面很有应用前景。

人体基因组中除了约2万个负责制造蛋白质的基因，还有大量不制造蛋白质的“非编码基因”，它们在人体发育、大脑功能等许多方面起到重要的调控作用。但很多这类基因的活跃程度很低，往往只在少数细胞里发挥作用，很难对其进行详细研究。

“捕获测序”技术能以更高精度分析基因组，类似于用像素更高的数码相机去拍照片，可以更好地呈现当前测序技术难以探查到的细节，帮助深入了解非编码基因。

该技术还能用于血癌等疾病的快速检测。不同基因结合而成的“融合基因”被认为与部分癌症有关，已知与血癌有关的融合基因就有约200个。当前检查技术只能一个个地检测融合基因，而“捕获测序”能同时寻找上述全部200个基因，大大加快诊断速度，为救治患者争取时间。（来源：新华社 万思琦）

Identification of small molecules that support human leukemia stem cell activity ex vivo

Abstract  Leukemic stem cells (LSCs) are considered a major cause of relapse in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Defining pathways that control LSC self-renewal is crucial for a better understanding of underlying mechanisms and for the development of targeted therapies. However, currently available culture conditions do not prevent spontaneous differentiation of LSCs, which greatly limits the feasibility of cell-based assays. To overcome these constraints we conducted a high-throughput chemical screen and identified small molecules that inhibit differentiation and support LSC activity in vitro. Similar to reports with cord blood stem cells, several of these compounds suppressed the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway, which we show to be inactive in vivo and rapidly activated ex vivo in AML cells. We also identified a compound, UM729, that collaborates with AhR suppressors in preventing AML cell differentiation. Together, these findings provide newly defined culture conditions for improved ex vivo culture of primary human AML cells.

原文链接：http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v11/n4/full/nmeth.2847.html