Latest Oncogene Stories

Discovery introduces a new group of genetic entities, dubbed 'competitive endogenous RNAs'The central dogma of molecular biology, as proposed in 1970 by Francis Crick and James Watson, holds that genetic information is transferred from DNA to functional proteins by way of messenger RNA (mRNA). This suggests that mRNA has but a single role, that being to encode for proteins.Now, a cancer genetics team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) suggests there is much more to RNA than meets...

The tumor suppressor Retinoblastoma represses DNA replication genes during senescenceA frequently mutated gene in human cancers is the reitnoblastoma (RB) gene, which controls a potent tumor suppression pathway. Mutations in the gene disable the vast and intricate RB pathway in virtually all tumor cells, leading to disturbances in a host of cellular functions and ultimately provoking cancer. But which of these functions is crucial for the gene's tumor-suppressing activity has been...

4-protein complex provides new target for thwarting cancer migration, invasionThe molecular machinery that switches on a gene known to cause breast cancer to spread and invade other organs has been identified by an international team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The paper was published Sunday in Nature Cell Biology's advanced online publication.The discovery provides a target-rich environment for development of drugs to thwart expression of the...

Researchers have found that one particularly aggressive type of blood cancer, mixed lineage leukemia (MLL), has an unusual way to keep the molecular motors running. The cancer cells rely on the normal version of an associated protein to stay alive.MLL happens when a piece of chromosome 11 breaks off at the normal MLL-associated gene. The broken gene attaches itself to another chromosome, resulting in a fusion protein that eventually causes uncontrolled growth of blood cells.The lab of senior...

SAN MARINO, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation, an emerging leader in the field of targeted genetic medicine, gained international validation of the cutting-edge science behind its lead oncology product, Rexin-G, when scientists around the world rediscovered the Cyclin G1 gene to be a major locus of cancer pathogenesis and disease progression, and thus a prime target for anti-cancer therapies. Recently, scientists at the NIH National Cancer Institute...

Scientists have discovered oncogenes capable of driving growth of normal human brain stem cells in a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor. The research, published by Cell Press in the December issue of the journal Cancer Cell, has significant implications for clinical management of aggressive pediatric brain tumors that are notorious for their dismal prognosis.Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) arise from undifferentiated brain cells and are the most frequent malignant brain tumors in...

Researchers from Yale University and Mirna Therapeutics, Inc., reversed the growth of lung tumors in mice using a naturally occurring tumor suppressor microRNA. The study reveals that a tiny bit of RNA may one day play a big role in cancer treatment, and provides hope for future patients battling one of the most prevalent and difficult to treat cancers."This is the first time anybody has shown a positive effect of microRNAs in shrinking lung cancer," said Frank Slack, Ph.D.,...

Cancer cells fueled by the mutant KRAS oncogene, which makes them notoriously difficult to treat, can be killed by blocking a more vulnerable genetic partner of KRAS, report scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.The laboratory results, published by Nature on its Web site as an advanced online publication and later in a print edition, demonstrate a potential advance against many major tumors which, because they harbor the mutant KRAS cancer...

 Thousands of scientists and hundreds of software programmers studying the process by which RNA inside cells normally degrades may soon broaden their focus significantly.That's because University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have discovered that the RNA degradation, which, when improperly regulated can lead to cancer and other diseases, can be launched in an unexpected location."We've been seeing only half the picture," says Vladimir Spiegelman, lead author on the new study...

DLX5, a gene crucial for embryonic development, promotes cancer by activating the expression of the known oncogene, MYC, according to researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center. Since the DLX5 gene is inactive in normal adults, it may be an ideal target for future anti-cancer drugs, they reason. Their findings are published in the July 31 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, available online now.Previously the researchers found that a chromosomal inversion "“ a genetic...