在描述基因、基因mRNAs或由其编码的蛋白质水平的变化时，经常会因错误使用命名规则而引发混淆。如果作者一会儿提及基因表达水平，一会儿转至蛋白质水平，再过一会又回到基因，这只会乱上加乱，尤其是当基因和蛋白质同名时。因此，作者应确切地告知读者你提及的到底是基因还是蛋白质。不同物种有不同的命名规则，但一般来说，基因名称应写成斜体，蛋白质则采用正体。大小写常用于区分不同物种：一般地，对于小鼠、大鼠和鸡，基因名称首字大写，其余小写；对于人、灵长类和某些家禽/家畜，基因名称均使用大写字母。在描述mRNA时一般使用基因名称(如，“levels of p53 mRNA”)，也可用“for”来加以连接(如，“levels of the mRNA for p53”)。“表达”(expression)一词通常用于描述基因表达，如果用于描述蛋白质和mRNA水平，就会引发混乱；因此，在提及蛋白质时，建议不用“表达”一词，而是直接改用“level”(或“levels”)。应高度注意所提及物种的适用命名规则；在文章中只要提及蛋白质、基因或mRNA的名称，应确保其是明白无误的。

•    “Expression of the Igf1 gene was increased in our transgenic mice” (这里在提及基因时使用了斜体并加上“gene”一词，读者能够一目了然)
•    “The levels of IGF1 mRNA were elevated in our patient group” (这是人类基因的正确命名规则)
•    “The serum IGF1 levels were elevated in the transgenic mice” (这里很显然提及的是蛋白质，使用大写字母是适宜的，尽管物种是小鼠，因为这是小鼠蛋白质的正确命名规则)



Protein and gene nomenclature
One very common cause of confusion is use of the incorrect nomenclature to describe changes in the levels of genes, their mRNAs or the proteins that they encode. Constant changing from describing gene expression levels to protein levels and back again can also add to the confusion, especially because the names are often the same. Therefore, it needs to be completely clear to the reader exactly what level you are talking about. Nomenclature differs among species, but generally gene names should be described in italics and protein names in normal font. Case (upper vs lower) is often used to distinguish between species: generally, for mouse, rat and chicken, gene names are spelt with an upper case first letter and the rest in lower case; for humans, primates and some domestic species, gene names are spelt with all capital letters. Descriptions of mRNAs generally use the gene name (for example, “levels of p53 mRNA”) or you can refer to the mRNA “for” a given protein (for example “levels of the mRNA for p53”). The word “expression” is usually used to describe gene expression and can induce confusion when used to describe protein and mRNA levels; in most cases referring to proteins the word “expression” can simply be replaced with the word “level” (or “levels”). Be aware of the correct nomenclature for your species of subject and ensure that everywhere you refer to a protein, gene or mRNA by name in the text it is completely clear which of those you are referring to.

•    “Expression of the Igf1 gene was increased in our transgenic mice” (use of italics and the word “gene” ensure that no confusion is possible here).
•    “The levels of IGF1 mRNA were elevated in our patient group” (correct nomenclature for human genes).
•    “The serum IGF1 levels were elevated in the transgenic mice” (here, it is clear that the protein is being referred to; capitals are appropriate in this case, even though the species is mouse, because it is the correct nomenclature for the mouse protein).

Dr Daniel McGowan
分子神经学博士
理文编辑学术总监



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