Rassf1A/5 tumor suppressors serve as adaptor proteins possessing a modular architecture with the C-terminal consisting of a coiled-coil SARAH (Salvador-Rassf-Hippo) domain and the central portion being composed of Ras associated (RA) domain. Here, we investigate the effect of Rassf effectors on Mst1 function by mapping the interaction of various domains of Rassf1A/5 and Mst1 kinase using surfac...

Epigenetic inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) is a fundamental event in the pathogenesis of human cancer. This silencing is accomplished by aberrant chromatin modifications including DNA hypermethylation of the gene promoter. One of the most frequently hypermethylated TSG in human cancer is the Ras Association Domain Family 1A (RASSF1A) gene. Aberrant methylation of RASSF1A has been r...

Recently, we found epigenetic silencing of the Ras effector genes NORE1B and/or RASSF1A in 97% of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) investigated. This is strong evidence that the two genes are of major significance in hepatocarcinogenesis. Although RASSF1A serves as a tumor suppressor gene, the functions of NORE1B are largely unknown. Here, we studied the role of NORE1B for growth and transfor...

background: this study intends to determine the diagnostic and prognostic roles of hypermethylation of serum rassf1a and protocadherin-10 promoters in females with breast cancer. methods: this study enrolled 80 breast cancer patients and 80 apparently normal healthy controls. the promoter methylation status of serum rassf1a and pcdh10 genes was investigated using methylation specific pcr. resul...

Recently, we have identified a new putative tumor suppressor gene, RASSF1A (Ras association domain family 1A gene), located at human chromosome 3p21.3, the segment that is often lost in many types of human cancers. The RASSF1A promoter was shown to be frequently hypermethylated in various epithelial tumors, including small cell lung, breast, bladder, prostate, gastric, and renal cell carcinomas...

The RAS association domain family protein 1a (RASSF1A), a tumor suppressor gene at 3p21.3, plays a very important role in various cancers, including the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Hypermethylation of CpG islands in the RASSF1A promoter region contribute to epigenetic inactivation. However, the association between RASSF1A promoter methylation and HNSCC remains unclear and con...

BACKGROUND The RAS association domain family protein 1a gene (RASSF1A) is one of the tumor suppressor genes (TSG). Inactivation of RASSF1A is critical to the pathogenesis of cancer. Aberrant TSG methylation was considered an important epigenetic silencing mechanism in the progression of ovarian cancer. A number of studies have discussed association between RASSF1A promoter methylation and ovari...

BACKGROUND Epigenetic silencing of RAS association family 1A (RASSF1A) tumor suppressor gene occurs in various histological subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) but RASSF1A protein expression in clear cell RCC as well as a possible correlation with clinicopathological parameters of patients has not been analyzed at yet. METHODS 318 primary clear cell carcinomas were analyzed using tissue mi...

The RASSF1A locus at 3p21.3 is epigenetically inactivated at high frequency in a variety of solid tumors. Expression of RASSF1A is sufficient to revert the tumorigenicity of human cancer cell lines. We show here that RASSF1A can induce cell cycle arrest by engaging the Rb family cell cycle checkpoint. RASSF1A inhibits accumulation of native cyclin D1, and the RASSF1A-induced cell cycle arrest c...

In recent years, the list of tumor suppressor genes (or candidate TSG) that are inactivated frequently by epigenetic events rather than classic mutation/deletion events has been growing. Unlike mutational inactivation, methylation is reversible and demethylating agents and inhibitors of histone deacetylases are being used in clinical trails. Highly sensitive and quantitative assays have been de...