Haploinsufficiency of tumor suppressor genes, wherein the reduced production and activity of proteins results in the inability of the cell to maintain normal cellular function, is one among the various causes of cancer. However the precise molecular mechanisms underlying this condition remain unclear. Here we hypothesize that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 3'untranslated region (...

Cellular senescence is a stable state of proliferative arrest that provides a barrier to malignant transformation and contributes to the antitumor activity of certain chemotherapies. Senescent cells can accumulate senescence-associated heterochromatic foci (SAHFs), which may provide a chromatin buffer that prevents activation of proliferation-associated genes by mitogenic transcription factors....

ErbB4 (HER4) is a member of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, which includes the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR/ErbB1), ErbB2 (HER2/Neu), and ErbB3 (HER3). Mounting evidence indicates that ErbB4, unlike EGFR or ErbB2, functions as a tumor suppressor in many human malignancies. Previous analyses of the constitutively-dimerized and -active ErbB4 Q646C mutant indicate that ErbB...

Tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes are important regulatory genes which encode proteins regulating transitions in and out of the cell cycle and which also have a role in the gateway to terminal differentiation (Tripathy & Benz, 1992). Defects in tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes result in uncontrolled cell division, which leads to cancer (Tripathy & Benz, 1992). Oncogenes are mutated proto...

The Wilms' tumor 1 gene (WT1) has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene involved in the etiology of Wilms' tumor. Approximately 10% of all Wilms' tumors carry mutations in the WT1 gene. Alterations in the WT1 gene have also been observed in other tumor types, such as leukemia, mesothelioma and desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Dependent on the tumor type, WT1 proteins might either funct...

Cancers result from the accumulation of inherited and somatic mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. These genes encode proteins that function in growth regulatory and differentiation pathways. Mutations in those genes increase the net reproductive rate of cells. Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a feature of most human cancers. Mutations in CIN genes increase the rate at which whole...

Expression of the pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR) leads to activation of the adaptor molecule SLP-65 and the cytoplasmic kinase Btk. Mice deficient for one of these signaling proteins have an incomplete block in B cell development at the stage of large cycling pre-BCR+CD43+ pre-B cells. Our recent findings of defective SLP-65 expression in approximately 50% of childhood pre-B acute lymphoblastic ...

background: aberrant methylation of cytosine-guanine dinucleotide islands leads to inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer. tumor suppressor genes are unmethylated in normal tissue and often become hypermethylated during tumor formation, leading to gene silencing. we investigated the association between e-cadherin ( cdh1) and estrogen receptor-α (esrα) gene promoter methylation ...

The basic unit of chromatin is a nucleosome included an octamer of the four core histones and 147 base pairs of DNA. Posttranslational histones modifications affect chromatin structure resulting in gene expression changes. CpG islands hypermethylation within the gene promoter regions and the deacetylation of histone proteins are the most common epigenetic modifications. The aberrant patterns of...