Aneuploidy has been recognized as a common characteristic of cancer cells for >100 years. Aneuploidy frequently results from errors of the mitotic checkpoint, the major cell cycle control mechanism that acts to prevent chromosome missegregation. The mitotic checkpoint is often compromised in human tumors, although not as a result of germline mutations in genes encoding checkpoint proteins. Less...

INTRODUCTION Aneuploidy has been observed in 6-27% of lesions known to be precursors of colorectal cancer, such as adenomas or ulcerative colitis. It has been suggested that aneuploidy may predispose to malignancy in these cases. However, its role in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence has not been definitely established. The objective of this study was to assess the incidence of aneuploidy in colon...

When malignant neoplasms are compared to normal cells or benign neoplasms, malignant neoplasms are found to have several characteristics: more rapid increase in size, anaplasia, invasion, and metastasis. Cytologic features of malignant neoplasm cells include increased nuclear size, pleomorphism, anaplasia, hyperchromatism, and bizarre mitoses. Two main theories are used to explain these charact...

Many studies estimate that chromosomal mosaicism within the cleavage-stage human embryo is high. However, comparison of two unique methods of aneuploidy screening of blastomeres within the same embryo has not been conducted and may indicate whether mosaicism has been overestimated due to technical inconsistency rather than the biological phenomena. The present study investigates the prevalence ...

BACKGROUND Cell-free fetal DNA and cell-free total DNA in maternal circulation have been proposed as potential markers for noninvasive monitoring of the placental condition during the pregnancy. However, the correlation of and change in cell-free fetal DNA and cell-free total DNA in spontaneous abortion (SA) with fetal chromosomal aneuploidy have not yet been reported. Therefore, we investigate...

Most cancer cells are characterized by aneuploidy, an abnormal number of chromosomes. We have identified a clue to the mechanistic origins of aneuploidy through integrative genomic analyses of human tumors. A diverse range of tumor types were found to harbor deletions or inactivating mutations of STAG2, a gene encoding a subunit of the cohesin complex, which regulates the separation of sister c...

Although a positive correlation between aneuploidy and maternal age was first reported almost a century ago, the underlying mechanisms remain mostly unknown. Different hypotheses regarding age-related aneuploidy rise have been presented, but so far none of them can explain its full mechanism. Age-related aneuploidy is more likely to result from complex events taking place during the entire peri...

A reciprocal translocation between the short arm of chromosome 1 and the long arm of chromosome 3 was observed in a pedigree of three carriers (proband, and his brother and mother). In this study, the three carriers had different clinical manifestations: the proband with infertility, his brother with spousal miscarriages, and his mother with no adverse reproductive history. Cytogenetic analysis...

We analyze and reinterpret experimental evidence from the literature to argue for an ability of tumor cells to self-regulate their aneuploidy rate. We conjecture that this ability is mediated by a diversification factor that exploits molecular mechanisms common to embryo stem cells and, to a lesser extent, adult stem cells, that is eventually reactivated in tumor cells. Moreover, we propose a d...

Cancers have a clonal origin, yet their chromosomes and genes are non-clonal or heterogeneous due to an inherent genomic instability. However, the cause of this genomic instability is still debated. One theory postulates that mutations in genes that are involved in DNA repair and in chromosome segregation are the primary causes of this instability. But there are neither consistent correlations ...