Annual Report 2007–08

38 建立中國地級市和縣級社會發展及地理資訊資料庫 Barometer on China’s Development (BOCD) — A GIS Database on Prefectures and Counties 該計劃獲逾三百萬元種子資金支持，於大學的中國研究服務中心，建立社會指 標和地理資訊的電子綜合資料庫，觀測中國縣級和地級發展。資料庫可容納中國 二千八百六十二個縣和三百三十三個地級市的社會、經濟、政治等多種社會指標， 這些資料可用作多級、跨年度和跨區域的比較分析，供評估公共財政、教育、人員 管理、工業化、城市化、遷徙、基礎建設、貧困問題、社會保障、公共衞生等領域內 重要改革的實施情況和成效。 With the support of seed money worth over HK$ 3 million, the BOCD project aims to build a first-rate electronic GIS database on developments in China at the Universities Service Centre for China Studies. The database will include social, economic, political, and other social indicators about 333 prefectures and 2,862 counties. It will enable multi-level, longitudinal as well as cross- regional comparative analysis of China’s evolution to assess the applicability and effectiveness of important reform initiatives in public finance, education, personnel management, industrialization, urbanization, migration, infrastructure, poverty, social security, public health and so on. 中國研究 Chinese Studies 傑出研究計劃 Outstanding Research Projects ▋ 五大重點研究領域 Five Major Research Areas 生物醫學科學 Biomedical Sciences 「小」RNA對肝癌的重大意義 ’Small’ RNAs Have Big Effects on Liver Cancer 癌症生物學的最新進展顯示 microRNA (miRNA) 的表達狀況，可反映是否有腫瘤 形成。miRNA 可通過指揮信號 RNA降解或抑制蛋白轉錄，調節基因表達。腫瘤相 關的 miRNA，可被視為一類能調節主要信號途徑的新腫瘤抑制基因或腫瘤基因。 廣泛的遺傳學分析已提供了肝細胞肝癌基因組的基因轉變和轉錄改變的重要信息， 但有關 miRNAs 的各種差異表達仍未能有清晰界定。病理解剖及細胞學系王昭 春博士全面分析了細胞肝癌細胞株的細胞 miRNA 的表達變異，發現 miR-222 和 miR-223 的極度異常表達，可以不受病毒感染影響，明確地把肝細胞肝癌與鄰近的 非腫瘤肝組織區分開。總括而言，研究結果顯示了miRNA在肝細胞肝癌的各種特異 性表達，特別顯示了 miR-223 下調對肝細胞肝癌形成的重要意義。 （本計劃亦為醫學院研究計劃） Recent advances in cancer biology have emphasized alterations of endogenous microRNA (miRNA) expression as an important event in the tumorigenesis of human cancers. An miRNA regulates gene expression by either directing messenger RNA degradation or repressing protein translation. It is also becoming apparent that cancer-associated miRNAs may be regarded as a new class of tumour suppressor and oncogenes capable of regulating vital signaling paths. Extensive genetic analyses have provided valuable information on the genomic and transcriptional alterations of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but information on differentially expressed miRNA is largely undefined. Dr. Nathalie Wong at the Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology undertook a comprehensive investigation into the changes of cellular miRNA expressions in a large panel of HCC cell lines by array profiling. She found the highly deregulated miR-222 and miR-223 could unequivocally distinguish HCC tumors from the adjacent non-tumoral liver, irrespective of viral etiologies. In summary, the study revealed specific miRNA differential expressions in HCC and underscores potential importance on miR-223 down-regulations in the development of HCC. (This is also a research project of the Faculty of Medicine)