肌肉萎缩性脊髓侧索硬化症(ALS)是一种非常难以治愈的病症,其特征是运动神经逐渐麻痹坏死,英国著名物理学家霍金患的便是这种病症。不过日本科学家近采用肝细胞增殖因子,通过动物实验成功地控制了这一症状,使人们看到了攻克这种疾病的希望。据《读卖新闻》报道,大阪大学船越副教授、中村敏一教授和东北大学山泰人教授等人发现,肝细胞增殖因子不仅对于肝脏细胞有增殖作用,而且具有防止细胞死亡的功能,于是断定也有防止神经细胞死亡的作用。 Muscular atrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a very difficult condition to cure and is characterized by progressive paralysis of motor nerves. This phenomenon is known to the famous British physicist Hawking. However, Japanese scientists have recently adopted the hepatocyte growth factor and successfully controlled this symptom through animal experiments, which has made people see the hope of conquering the disease. According to the “Yomiuri Shimbun” report, Osaka University’s Associate Professor Funakoshi, Professor Minakazu Nakamura and Tohoku University’s Shantai Professor discovered that hepatocyte growth factor not only has a proliferative effect on liver cells, but also has the function of preventing cell death. It also has the effect of preventing nerve cell death.