Latest Tumor suppressor genes Stories

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Monday in a case that could determine whether or not human DNA can be patented, which could have a tremendous impact on genetic research, one way or the other. According to Reuters reporter Sharon Begley, “The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted patents on at least 4,000 human genes to companies, universities and others that have discovered and decoded them.” Those...

Mutations in a protein called SPOP (speckle-type POZ protein) disarm it, allowing another protein called steroid receptor coactivator-3 (SRC-3) to encourage the proliferation and spread of prostate cancer cells, said researchers led by those at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Normally SPOP acts as a tumor suppressor gene by marking SRC-3 for destruction, said Dr. Nicholas Mitsiades, assistant professor of...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a new so-called pseudogene that regulates the tumor-suppressing PTEN gene. They hope that this pseudogene will be able to control PTEN to reverse the tumor process, make the cancer tumor more sensitive to chemotherapy and to prevent the development of resistance. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, can be of significance in the future development of cancer drugs....

Information prompts individuals to consult physician, inform relatives A 23andMe study of consumers' reactions to genetic testing found that even when the tests revealed high-risk mutations in individuals, those individuals had few negative reactions to the news. Instead of inducing serious anxiety, the test results prompted people to take positive steps, including follow-up visits with a doctor and discussions with family members who could also be at risk. The study, titled "Dealing...

Surprising result suggests that enhancing these mutations’ impact could offer a new way to treat cancer. A typical cancer cell has thousands of mutations scattered throughout its genome and hundreds of mutated genes. However, only a handful of those genes, known as drivers, are responsible for cancerous traits such as uncontrolled growth. Cancer biologists have largely ignored the other mutations, believing they had little or no impact on cancer progression. But a new study from MIT,...

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) recently conducted a study that showed a significantly earlier onset of menopause for women who inherited a mutation in one of the breast cancer susceptibility (BRCA) genes. These genes, known as BRCA1 or BRCA2, are tumor suppressor genes, meaning that they prevent uncontrolled cell growth. The study is of particular importance as it points to the possibility that...

Metabolic control of p53 points to new cancer therapeutics It is perhaps impossible to overstate the importance of the tumor suppressor gene p53. It is the single most frequently mutated gene in human tumors. p53 keeps pre-cancerous cells in check by causing cells, among other things, to become senescent – aging at the cellular level. Loss of p53 causes cells to ignore the cellular signals that would normally make mutant or damaged cells die or stop growing. In short, the p53 pathway...

Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered a protein that does its best work with one foot in the grave. The study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, focuses on the nontraditional lifestyle of Retinoblastoma tumor suppressor proteins, which could lead to new ways to treat cancer. “Retinoblastoma proteins are unique in that they use controlled destruction to do their jobs in a timely but restrained fashion,” said Liang Zhang, a...

Mice without the pro-longevity gene SIRT6 had higher risk of gastrointestinal cancers A new study sheds more light on how an anti-aging gene suppresses cancer growth, joint University of Michigan Health System and Harvard Medical School research shows. Loss of the SIRT6 protein in mice increases the number, size and aggressiveness of tumors, according to the new research published in the scientific journal Cell. The study also suggests that the loss of SIRT6 promotes tumor growth in...

Researchers from the University of Geneva demonstrate that, in this type of lesion, the rate of progression from a precancerous state to the tumor stage accelerates over time The causes underlying the development of certain types of common cancers have not yet been elucidated. In order to better determine the origin and the sequence of events responsible for the onset of colon cancer, the teams led by Thanos Halazonetis and Stylianos Antonarakis, professors at the University of Geneva...