Among them: some genes believed to be
tumor suppressors turned on or became more active, whereas certain disease - promoting ones, including oncogenes (in the so - called RAS family that are implicated in both prostate and breast cancer), were down - regulated or switched off.
Not exact matches
But mutated or dysfunctional Rb is associated with several major cancers and Cyclin D has long been described as an oncogene that promotes cancer because it was believed to inactivate the Rb
tumor suppressor function through a process called phosphorylation, which involves phosphate molecules being added to proteins, essentially
turning them on or off.
A study published in Molecular Cancer Research reveals that a
tumor suppressor gene p16 is
turned off by a histone mutation (H3.3 K27M), which is found in up to 70 percent of childhood brain
tumors called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).
In the first test using KnIT, the team sought to identify new protein kinases that phosphorylate (or
turn on) the protein
tumor suppressor p53.
These complexes lead to mutations in the TP53
tumor suppressor gene, which in
turn initiate the process toward kidney cancer.
To
turn malignant, a
tumor must evolve with at least one oncogene jammed in the «on» position and at least one
tumor -
suppressor gene jammed in the «off» position.
Within this cascade Shp2
turns on different signaling molecules, but
turns off the
tumor suppressor genes p27 und p53.
As a powerful
tumor suppressor, p53
turns on genes that either halt cell division to allow time for repair of damaged DNA or, when all rescue attempts prove futile, to prevent cells with genetic defects from dividing, as this would fuel the development of cancer.
When these genes (called
tumor suppressor genes) are
turned off, MDS cells and cancer cells can grow freely.
Mutations that impair, or
turn off,
tumor suppressor genes cause an increased risk of developing cancer.
But a puzzle remains: if a drug wipes away methylation indiscriminately, that might
turn on an oncogene just as much as it might restore a
tumor suppressor gene.