Search results for "Tumor suppressor"
showing 10 items of 401 documents
Anaplastic Wilms' tumour, a subtype displaying poor prognosis, harbours p53 gene mutations
1994
The genetics of Wilms' tumour (WT), a paediatric malignancy of the kidney, is complex. Inactivation of the tumour suppressor gene, WT1, is associated with tumour aetiology in approximately 10-15% of WTs. Chromosome 17p changes have been noted in cytogenetic studies of WTs, prompting us to screen 140 WTs for p53 mutations. When histopathology reports were available, p53 mutations were present in eight of eleven anaplastic WTs, a tumour subtype associated with poor prognosis. Amplification of MDM2, a gene whose product binds and sequesters p53, was excluded. Our results indicate that p53 alterations provide a molecular marker for anaplastic WTs.
Anti-aging activity of the Ink4/Arf locus.
2009
The proteins encoded by the Ink4/Arf locus, p16Ink4a, p19Arf and p15Ink4b are major tumour suppressors that oppose aberrant mitogenic signals. The expression levels of the locus are progressively increased during aging and genome-wide association studies have linked the locus to a number of aging-associated diseases and frailty in humans. However, direct measurement of the global impact of the Ink4/Arf locus on organismal aging and longevity was lacking. In this work, we have examined the fertility, cancer susceptibility, aging and longevity of mice genetically modified to carry one (Ink4/Arf-tg) or two (Ink4/Arf-tg/tg) intact additional copies of the locus. First, increased gene dosage of …
Apoptosis in malignant glioma cells triggered by the temozolomide-induced DNA lesion O6-methylguanine
2006
Methylating drugs such as temozolomide (TMZ) are widely used in the treatment of brain tumours (malignant gliomas). The mechanism of TMZ-induced glioma cell death is unknown. Here, we show that malignant glioma cells undergo apoptosis following treatment with the methylating agents N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and TMZ. Cell death determined by colony formation and apoptosis following methylation is greatly stimulated by p53. Transfection experiments with O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and depletion of MGMT by O(6)-benzylguanine showed that, in gliomas, the apoptotic signal originates from O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)MeG) and that repair of O(6)MeG by MGMT prevent…
Apoptosis induced by MNNG in human TK6 lymphoblastoid cells is p53 and Fas/CD95/Apo-1 related.
2003
Agents inducing O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)MeG) in DNA, such as N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), are not only highly mutagenic and carcinogenic but also cytotoxic because of the induction of apoptosis. In CHO fibroblasts, apoptosis triggered by O(6)MeG requires cell proliferation and MutSalpha-dependent mismatch repair and is related to the induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Furthermore, it is mediated by Bcl-2 degradation and does not require p53 for which the cells were mutated [Cancer Res. 60 (2000) 5815]. Here we studied cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by MNNG in a pair of human lymphoblastoid cells expressing wild-type p53 (TK6) and mutant p53 (WTK1) and show tha…
O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase and p53 status predict temozolomide sensitivity in human malignant glioma cells
2006
Temozolomide (TMZ) is a methylating agent which prolongs survival when administered during and after radiotherapy in the first-line treatment of glioblastoma and which also has significant activity in recurrent disease. O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a DNA repair enzyme attributed a role in cancer cell resistance to O6-alkylating agent-based chemotherapy. Using a panel of 12 human glioma cell lines, we here defined the sensitivity to TMZ in acute cytotoxicity and clonogenic survival assays in relation to MGMT, mismatch repair and p53 status and its modulation by dexamethasone, irradiation and BCL-X(L). We found that the levels of MGMT expression were a major predictor of T…
Genes, Ageing and Longevity in Humans: Problems, Advantages and Perspectives.
2006
Many epidemiological data indicate the presence of a strong familial component of longevity that is largely determined by genetics, and a number of possible associations between longevity and allelic variants of genes have been described. A breakthrough strategy to get insight into the genetics of longevity is the study of centenarians, the best example of successful ageing. We review the main results regarding nuclear genes as well as the mitochondrial genome, focusing on the investigations performed on Italian centenarians, compared to those from other countries. These studies produced interesting results on many putative "longevity genes". Nevertheless, many discrepancies are reported, l…
Targeting Cavity-Creating p53 Cancer Mutations with Small-Molecule Stabilizers: the Y220X Paradigm
2020
We have previously shown that the thermolabile, cavity-creating p53 cancer mutant Y220C can be reactivated by small-molecule stabilizers. In our ongoing efforts to unearth druggable variants of the p53 mutome, we have now analyzed the effects of other cancer-associated mutations at codon 220 on the structure, stability, and dynamics of the p53 DNA-binding domain (DBD). We found that the oncogenic Y220H, Y220N, and Y220S mutations are also highly destabilizing, suggesting that they are largely unfolded under physiological conditions. A high-resolution crystal structure of the Y220S mutant DBD revealed a mutation-induced surface crevice similar to that of Y220C, whereas the corresponding pock…
Monoclonal antibody to a DNA-binding domain of p53 mimics charge structure of DNA: anti-idiotypes to the anti-p53 antibody are anti-DNA
2004
Antibodies to DNA are important markers of various autoimmune diseases and can be pathogenic; however, their generation is not understood. We previously reported that anti-DNA antibodies could be induced in mice by idiotypic immunization to PAb-421, an antibody to a DNA-binding domain of p53. We now report that two monoclonal antibodies of moderate affinity (K(D) asymptotically equal to 10(-7)), raised from PAb-421-immunized mice, specifically recognized both PAb-421 and DNA. These antibodies feature multiple arginine residues in the antigen-binding site, a unique characteristic of disease-associated anti-DNA antibodies; nevertheless, these anti-DNA antibodies show specific complementarity …
Comparative genomic sequencing reveals a strikingly similar architecture of a conserved syntenic region on human chromosome 11p15.3 (including gene S…
2001
Comparative genomics is a superior way to identify phylogenetically conserved features like genes or regions involved in gene regulation. The comparison of extended orthologous chromosomal regions should also reveal other characteristic traits essential for chromosome or gene function. In the present study we have sequenced and compared a region of conserved synteny from human chromosome 11p15.3 and mouse chromosome 7. In human, this region is known to contain several genes involved in the development of various disorders like Beckwith-Wiedemann overgrowth syndrome and other tumor diseases. Furthermore, in the neighboring chromosome region 11p15.5 extensive imprinting of genes has been repo…
IL12A, MPHOSPH9/CDK2AP1 and RGS1 are novel multiple sclerosis susceptibility loci
2010
A recent meta-analysis identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with suggestive evidence of association with multiple sclerosis (MS). We report an analysis of these polymorphisms in a replication study that includes 8,085 cases and 7,777 controls. A meta-analysis across the replication collections and a joint analysis with the discovery data set were performed. The possible functional consequences of the validated susceptibility loci were explored using RNA expression data. For all of the tested SNPs, the effect observed in the replication phase involved the same allele and the same direction of effect observed in the discovery phase. Three loci exceeded genome-wide significa…